Supreme Court to Decide If Parents Can Opt Out of LGBTQ Book Readings in Schools

The Supreme Court will determine on Tuesday evening if parents have the right to refuse to have their children read LGBTQ books in school if those books go against their family’s faith.

Parents in Montgomery County, Maryland are claiming 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.

As part of the school district’s “inclusivity” plan, Montgomery County Public Schools added new LGBTQ books to the curriculum in November 2022. This caused a fight. This was the start of the fight.

A group that fights for religious freedom and is helping the parents said that the books “celebrate children’s pride parades, gender transitioning, and pronoun preferences.”

In March 2023, the school district also said that parents would not be told about the books before they were used in their children’s classrooms and that there would be no “opt-out” choice. This was true even though the school system had previously given parents a way to choose not to participate.

According to a ruling made by a federal appeals court in May 2024, parents in Montgomery County Schools cannot choose not to have their children read books with LGBTQ+ content.

The US Supreme Court decided in January that it would hear the case of Mahmoud v. Taylor during its term from 2024 to 2025.

One of the claimants in this case is Ms. Grace Morrison, who lives in Montgomery County and has seven children.

She learnt about the new school policy at a time when her youngest child, who has Down syndrome and other special needs, was already in public school and about to start 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 for a child with special needs, it’s even harder for her to understand,” Morrison said.

According to Morrison, the books in question could be confusing and go against their religious views because they contain stories that deal with gender ideology.

The plaintiffs in this case are people who follow the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, and the Muslim beliefs.

According to Becket, the Montgomery County School Board in Maryland is one of the few school boards in the United States that bans notices and opt-outs for parents regarding sexuality and gender training. The school board has done a great job with this.

Becket’s lawyer, William Haun, said that their main point of case before the Supreme Court will be that this school policy violates parents’ rights under the First Amendment.

He said that the Free Exercise Clause protects parents’ right to choose not to have their children attend public schools if the teaching would interfere with their child’s religious growth.

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