After winning a historic 1969 Supreme Court case as a teenager, Mary Beth Tinker never stopped fighting for children’s rights, free speech and equality. Fifty years later, she is taking on Capitol Hill with feminist antiwar group CODEPINK.
On Feb. 24, 1969, the Supreme Court reached a landmark ruling on classroom free speech in Tinker v. Des Moines, cementing the precedent that public school students and teachers retain their First Amendment rights in the classroom so long as they do not substantially disrupt education.
Five students, including Mary Beth Tinker, were suspended from school in December 1965 for wearing black armbands to support a Christmas truce in the Vietnam War and mourn the deaths of Vietnamese people and U.S. soldiers. Tinker was an eighth grader at the time. Represented by the ACLU, the students sued for freedom of speech after their suspension, leading to the Court decision.
More than 50 years later, Mary Beth Tinker is still an activist for children’s rights, demilitarization, free speech, LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, environmental protection and transnational feminism. Tinker says her advocacy has always been inspired by her parents, who were active in the Civil Rights and antiwar movements.
“There are so many similarities between the times when I grew up, in the 1950s and ‘60s, and now,” Tinker told Ms. “These are mighty times, again. … So much about racial justice, war and militarism and what kind of values are going to prevail in our society. Will it be caring for each other, caring for creatures of the earth, caring for the earth, or will it be selfishness, greed, the destruction of the earth and nature?”
Tinker spends many days in the halls of Congress advocating for a ceasefire and offensive arms embargo in Gaza. In line with her focus on the well-being and rights of children, she also works as a pediatric nurse and tours the country for speaking engagements to student audiences.
These are mighty times, again. … So much about racial justice, war and militarism and what kind of values are going to prevail in our society.
On the War in Gaza: “I Can’t Stay Silent About That, That’s Not How I Was Raised.”
Tinker said the “grief” and “anger” she felt about the Vietnam War inspired her to take action in school, ultimately leading to the famous Supreme Court case. “It was a war of atrocities. It was like now, in Gaza.”
About 2 million civilians died during the Vietnam war, a majority of whom were Vietnamese. Almost 60,000 U.S. soldiers died in combat.
[The Vietnam War] was a war of atrocities. It was like now, in Gaza. … When I think of youth rights, I think about children in Gaza whose limbs have been amputated … and children starving to death.
Tinker believes that the Vietnam war was a result of the “manifestation of the military industrial [complex] and colonialism, the dying colonialism of the time,” she said. “The U.S. was hanging on and still trying to maintain their colonial grip around the world, and so, the Vietnam war was so much a part of that.”
“I speak with veterans all the time today, and kids of veterans, and it’s very emotional,” she added, crediting veterans who openly opposed the Vietnam war with turning the tide of public opinion about the war in the 1960s and ’70s.
“Young people, and all of us, are seeing [the war in Gaza] on the news every day. And that’s how we felt back then,” Tinker added. “It was frustrating to not be able to do anything about it, or to not know what to do about it.”
“My life has been advocating for youth rights and the well-being of youth … When I think of youth rights, I think about children in Gaza whose limbs have been amputated … and children starving to death,” Tinker continued. “I can’t stand by and watch that, I feel that I have to take action.”
Israel’s leaked internal government data shows that at least 83 percent of Palestinians killed so far in the Gaza war have been civilians, not Hamas combatants. More than 62,000 Palestinian people, including more than 18,400 children, have been killed by bombings and ground invasions in Gaza since October 2023.
Nearly 70 percent of all Palestinian deaths verified by the U.N. have been among women and children. The official death toll is believed to be a vast undercount, with The Lancet finding in 2024 that the total figure of deaths in Gaza could be 40 percent higher than reported.
Last month, the International Association of Genocide Scholars, the world’s largest committee of experts on genocide, issued a resolution stating that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
As a member of CODEPINK, a women-led organization of transnational feminist peace activists, Tinker is lobbying Congress for the Block the Bombs Act, which would end the U.S. transfer of offensive weapons to Israel based on the country’s violations of international law, including collective punishment, forced displacement and the use of starvation as a weapon of war.
The act would leave the Iron Dome and other defensive aid intact to protect Israeli civilians.
“Not only would this help children and youth, but their mothers,” Tinker added. “There are women in Gaza … who don’t have the breastmilk to feed their babies because of the withholding of food and nutrition and water from the people there.”
Israel controls Gaza’s borders and airspace, determining who and what is allowed to exit and enter the Strip. With this power, the country blocked all humanitarian aid to Gaza for three months between March and May 2025, with significantly reduced amounts of aid allowed afterwards.
As Gaza reaches the final phase of famine as a result of blockades on humanitarian aid, mothers are prioritizing their children over themselves and going hungry, according to a U.N. Women report. The report added that pregnant and breastfeeding women are especially vulnerable to malnutrition.
It also emphasized that reproductive and maternal healthcare, in addition to menstrual products, are nearly impossible to access in Gaza because almost all hospitals have been destroyed and humanitarian supplies are severely depleted. This has led to high maternal mortality rates and preventable reproductive health problems among Palestinian women and girls, such as infections and untreated cancers, including gynecological cancers.
Additionally, the report outlined how the Gaza war has made Palestinian women and girls more vulnerable to gender-based violence, including sexual and domestic violence and child marriage, particularly when girls are orphaned. More than 24,000 children in Gaza are now orphans, and over 39,000 children in Gaza have lost at least one parent in the war.
People who care about humanity have to speak up when there is an ongoing genocide—especially one that the United States is funding and supporting.
In Israel, 38 children were killed and 20 were orphaned during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. About 1,200 people were killed by Hamas on that day in a targeted attack on civilians. Thousands others were wounded and more than 250 people were taken hostage into Gaza.
Today, there are at least 20 living hostages trapped in Gaza. At least 148 living hostages have been released during prisoner exchanges and ceasefires, but more than 40 hostages have died in captivity, some killed by Hamas and others by Israeli airstrikes.
Sexual violence has been used as a weapon of war throughout the conflict. In March 2024, the U.N. confirmed that there is evidence Hamas sexually assaulted and mutilated Oct 7. victims and hostages, especially women. A year later, the U.N. also reported that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are using sexual violence “as a strategy of war” against Palestinians.
“It has really reached an extreme crisis, and yes, it is a genocide. I believe that people who care about youth have to speak up about this,” Tinker said, “and people who care about humanity have to speak up when there is an ongoing genocide—especially one that the United States is funding and supporting. So, I can’t stay silent about that, that’s not how I was raised.”
On Freedom of Speech in the Classroom
Attacks on young people’s freedom of speech have continued since her pivotal 1969 case, Tinker said. “The censorship of both times really comes from a basic disrespect for young people.”
“There will be people who say, ‘Life’s not fair, kids,’ … I always tell students, don’t ever get used to life not being fair, because life should be fair,” Tinker added.
Student activism during the Vietnam War played a pivotal role in bringing attention to the antiwar movement, but it was accompanied by widespread crackdowns on student speech. Most well-known is the Kent State massacre, where multiple college students were killed by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University during a rally against the war.
Today, students have faced censorship for protesting the war in Gaza. Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student and green card holder studying at Columbia University, was arrested and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement because the Trump administration determined that his antiwar speech was a “foreign policy threat.” As a result, Khalil missed the birth of his son and spent months separated from family.
A judge ruled Khalil’s detention violated his free speech rights and he was released in June, but in September, another judge ordered his deportation to either Algeria or Syria.
There will be people who say, ‘Life’s not fair, kids,’ … I always tell students, don’t ever get used to life not being fair, because life should be fair.
Many other students have faced censorship on campus for protesting the Gaza war, including a Muslim USC valedictorian with a minor in “Resistance to Genocide.” Her graduation speech was canceled because of her online Pro-Palestinian advocacy, which led to a protest in the center of campus ending in the arrest of almost 100 USC students.
Professors and teachers are also facing threats to their freedom of speech. Especially as the Trump administration targets colleges and universities, professors are afraid to teach controversial subjects for fear of funding cuts and personal attacks.
K-12 teachers who discuss diversity and inclusion face retribution from administrators and lawmakers, too. “We’re seeing so much censorship of teachers,” Tinker said. “There’s a teacher in Idaho who put up a poster saying ‘All Welcome Here,’ with different colored hands on it, and she was told she couldn’t have those posters up.”
I am very, very thankful that I have had a life as an LGBTQ person.
LGBTQ+ inclusion in K-12 schools has become especially contentious, which concerns Tinker personally and politically. “As a gay woman, also, I feel that I have to speak up for the rights of LBGTQ youth and adults. I would even if I wasn’t gay myself, but it has affected my view of things very much. … I am very, very thankful that I have had a life as an LGBTQ person.”
Tinker had her first queer relationship at the same time that Tinker v. Des Moines made its way to the Supreme Court in 1969. “Those years were fraught with challenges, so I empathize, and I identify with teenagers who are dealing with challenges today,” she said.
“It’s a Good Life to Speak Up for a Better World.”
Tinker enjoys meeting students around the country on her ongoing speaking tour, the “Tinker Tour.” She hopes students will feel empowered to take action during this politically tenuous time.
“So many students feel like they don’t know where to start … they feel discouraged, like, ‘Oh, I could never do that.’ And that’s another thing I want to emphasize about the Tinker action: We were just ordinary kids.”
Tinker continued, “When I was asked to take off the armband … I was scared and nervous, I was in eighth grade, so I did take off the armband. I learned the lesson: You can be scared and nervous, you can even back down, and you can still make a difference.”
Tinker is also a pediatric nurse and public health expert with a background in trauma support, which informs her work as an activist for children’s rights and freedoms.
“When I think about the rights of kids, I not only think about the right to free speech in their schools and in their communities, but also: Do they have the right to clean air? Clean water? . . . I’ve taken care of so many children with asthma, why? Because corporations were allowed to pollute the air and violate the rights of kids.”
“I started putting together my experiences as a nurse with my experience in the Tinker v. Des Moines case, and I could see that the rights of young people are broad and need to be defended, and fought for. The best people to do that, and very effective people to do that, are youth themselves.”
The rights of young people are broad and need to be defended. …The best people to do that … are youth themselves.
“There’s a natural inclination” for young people to express themselves, Tinker told me. She believes in the power and importance of young people’s voices and has spent her life empowering them to defend their rights.
When she speaks to students, she reminds them that activism is the antidote to political disillusionment and emotional distress over the world’s problems.
“When you take action, it really helps. You deal with those hard emotions” about atrocities and injustices, Tinker said, later adding: “It’s a good life to speak up for a better world.”
