The Supreme Court is faced with a question of whether or not parents have the right to remove their child from a classroom if they believe that a lesson is objectionable.
Around the country, parents and school boards are standing up for parental rights, as we have previously reported.
The Justices appear likely to support the position of the parents, The Hill reports. Parents objected to LGBTQ+ themed books being used in elementary school classrooms in Montgomery County, MD.
Montgomery County began incorporating LGBTQ+ themed books at the start of the 2022-2023 school year. Books included in the language arts classes introduce transgender characters and describe homosexual relationships.
Sexual Book Themes for Kindergarten
Books include those titles below, The Hill reports.
Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope. The author writes about her transgender son who becomes a girl.
Love Violet. The story is about two girls in a homosexual relationship.
Approximately 20 books were included in the program called, “Pride Storybooks” introduced into the elementary schools, American Greatness reports. They are used in pre-K through 8th grade.
“The collection does not just celebrate Pride parades: it also introduces small children to the gruesome process of “gender-transitioning” and, inevitably, the ludicrous dogma of pronoun preferences,” Andrea Picciotti-Bay writes for the outlet.
Content Violates Religious Beliefs and Parental Teaching
Parents objecting to these and other titles with the LGBTQ+ theme come from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim backgrounds. The parents requested to have their children be allowed to opt-out from the lessons. No opt-out was allowed so the parents filed a lawsuit.
When questioned why schools would not allow an opt-out for these lessons, administrators cited the complexity of creating separate lessons for the children whose parents chose the opt-out. Parents countered by identifying many instances where an opt-out is honored.
A district court rules against the parents claiming that the parents could not prove that the exposure to the graphic stories and depictions of sexual situations violated their religious exercise.
After losing twice in federal court the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
It appears that the Supreme Court is likely to support the parents, The Federalist reports. Justice Samuel Alito pointed out the obvious indoctrination presented in the books. A story about gay marriage includes characters all supportive of attending a gay marriage with the exception of one character. That individual is shown to be wrong for her opinion in the story.
Justices Question the Logic
Justice Roberts questioned why these types of lessons would be necessary for children too young to even comprehend such mature themes.
“Is that a realistic concept when you’re talking about a 5-year-old?” Roberts asked.
Justice Barrett pointed out that the books clearly were prescriptive, advocating for a specific worldview.
Justice Kavanaugh brought forth the history of Maryland with respect to religious liberty and how disrespectful this action appeared to be to the religious community.
Justice Kagan noted that while the case was brough by religious families, even some non-religious families were “not thrilled” with the content.
The case is expected to be decided in June.
“This looks pretty promising for the parent petitioners in this case,” Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and legal fellow of Defending Education told Fox News.
“Because parental rights have become sort of the cultural zeitgeist for where we are in this political day and age, I think we are certain to see more litigation, not less, and more pushback,” Perry said.