Whether or not parents have the right to opt out of their children reading LGBTQ literature in the classroom that are in contradiction with their family’s faith is something that the Supreme Court will explore on Tuesday evening.
Parents in Montgomery County, Maryland are asserting that their children’s schools are infringing upon their right to religious freedom by denying them the opportunity to opt out of lessons that make use of books that contain LGBTQ narratives.
The dispute started in November 2022, when Montgomery County Public Schools included new LGBTQ novels in their curriculum as part of the district’s “inclusivity” initiative. This was the beginning of the conflict.
Becket, a religious freedom legal organisation that is helping the parents in their case, stated that the books “champion pride parades, gender transitioning, and pronoun preferences for children.”
Additionally, the school district declared in March 2023 that the opt-out option would not be provided and that parents would not be told prior to the books being introduced into their children’s classrooms. This was despite the fact that the school system had previously permitted an opt-out option.
According to a decision handed down by a federal appeals court in May 2024, parents are not permitted to opt their children out of reading books that contain LGBTQ+ content in Montgomery County Schools.
In January, the United States Supreme Court made the decision to hear the case of Mahmoud v. Taylor during its term that will run from 2024 to 2025.
Ms. Grace Morrison, who resides in Montgomery County and is one of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit, is a mother of seven children.
At the time that she was informed of the new school policy, her youngest kid, who suffers from Down syndrome in addition to other special needs, was enrolled in public school and was about to enter the fourth grade.
“We felt as parents that we would present these things to our children like we always have, when they’re ready to receive them. And especially a child with special needs, it’s even more difficult for her to understand,” Morrison stated.
According to Morrison, the books in question, which include narratives that deal with themes of gender ideology, have the potential to be perplexing and to be in conflict with their religious beliefs.
Practitioners of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, and the Muslim faith are among the plaintiffs in this case.
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According to Becket, the Montgomery County School Board in Maryland is one of the few school boards in the United States that prohibits notices and opt-outs for parents regarding sexuality and gender training. This is a significant achievement for the school board.
William Haun, an attorney for Becket, stated that they will focus their argument before the Supreme Court on the fact that this school policy violates the rights of parents under the First Amendment.
He stated that the Free Exercise clause protects the authority of parents, even when their children are attending public schools, to opt out of instruction that would interfere with their child’s religious development.
