A major case involving schools and religious freedom goes before the Supreme Court today. The key issue: allowing parents to remove their young children from classes with books containing LGBTQ content.
The high court’s ruling could have far-reaching effects on schools across the country.
Parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, want to pull their children out of elementary school classes when they use books that depict LGBTQ stories and themes, with many saying it violates their religious faith.
But the county school system refused to accommodate the parents and would not allow them to opt out of those classes, and lower courts agreed.
So the parents, including Christians, Jews, and Muslims, took their case to the next step. The outcome is now in the hands of the Supreme Court, which, in recent years, has repeatedly sided with claims of religious discrimination.
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Wael Elkoshairi of Family Rights for Religious Freedom said, “All we wanted is the accommodation, not necessarily to ban the books or remove the books as it’s been reported.”
The controversy started in 2022 after the school board approved several books for Pre-K and kindergartners. The list included books like My Rainbow, about a Black transgender girl whose mother creates a special wig to match her identity; Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, where a young girl’s uncle marries another man; and Pride Puppy, an alphabet book following a family and their dog at a Pride parade.
In court papers, the school district compares the materials to classic fairy tales, arguing, “The storybooks are no more sex education than stories like Cinderella and Snow White.” And although the material is labeled as “language arts,” some parents say the content of the material is very sexual and too much for young children.
“I’m here to tell you my 7-year-old daughter — she’s not ready for this,” one mom said.
David Trimble of the Religious Freedom Institute said, “What families in Montgomery County have faced, and what the Supreme Court may ultimately decide, will raise critical questions about when schools may infringe on parents’ rights to teach their faith and direct the upbringing of their children.”
Montgomery County did stop using Pride Puppy and My Rainbow, but other controversial books remain.
The school is reportedly one of the few districts nationwide that forbids parental opt-outs on topics related to sexuality and gender. The school claimed the opt-outs created too many problems, but supporters say it shouldn’t be difficult to let parents pull kids from those classes.
School districts nationwide are closely watching this case — which could set a precedent for similar disputes involving parental rights in the future.
