Maryland Parents Urge Supreme Court to Allow Children to Opt Out of LGBT Storybooks

Two lower courts have declined to halt a local board of education’s policy.

A newly donated LGBT book is displayed in the library at Nystrom Elementary School in Richmond, Calif., on May 17, 2022. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Maryland parents have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to restore their right to opt their young children out of having storybooks that promote LGBT lifestyles read to them.

The petition in Mahmoud v. Taylor was filed after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit turned away the parents’ request for an injunction to halt the Montgomery County Board of Education’s policy of promoting the books.

The petition was filed with the Supreme Court on Sept. 12, according to the parents’ attorneys at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit public interest law firm.

The case goes back to November 2022, when the board mandated new “LGBTQ-inclusive” storybooks for elementary school students that promote gender transitions, Pride parades, and same-sex romance between young children.

The board directed employees responsible for choosing the books to use an “LGBTQ+ Lens” and to question whether “cisnormativity,” “stereotypes,” and “power hierarchies” are “reinforced or disrupted,” according to the petition.

Parents were initially told they could opt out on behalf of their children when the storybooks were read, but in March 2023, the board changed its policy. Starting with the 2023–2024 academic year, the opt-out policy would no longer be in effect.

“If parents did not like what was taught to their elementary school kids, their only choice was to send them to private school or to homeschool,” the petition said.

Hundreds of parents, largely Eastern Orthodox Christians and Muslims, attended board meetings, according to the petition, and provided testimony that their religion required that young children not be exposed to instruction on gender and sexuality that was inconsistent with their religion.

“The parents emphasized how impressionable young children are and how they lack independent judgment to process such complex and sensitive issues,” the petition said.

Board members responded by accusing parents of promoting “hate” and likening them to “white supremacists” and “xenophobes,” according to the petition.

The parents filed a lawsuit after the board declined to accommodate them, arguing that they had a constitutional right to opt out of such instruction.

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman denied the parents’ request for an injunction to halt the cancellation of the opt-out policy on Aug. 24, 2023.

A divided Fourth Circuit panel upheld the decision on May 15 this year, ruling that the parents had failed to demonstrate that an injunction was justified. The panel added that it took no view as to whether the parents would be able to produce enough evidence later in the proceeding to succeed in their case.

The panel also found that there was no evidence that the policy change burdened the parents’ right to free exercise of religion.

Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at the Becket Fund, said the Supreme Court should grant the parents’ appeal.

“Parents shouldn’t have to take a back seat to anyone when it comes to introducing their children to complex and sensitive issues around gender and sexuality,” Baxter said in a statement.

“Nearly every state requires parental consent before high schoolers can attend sex-ed. Parents should have the right to excuse their elementary school children when related instruction is introduced during story hour.”

The school system declined to comment on the new petition.

“The case is still pending litigation so we don’t have any statements to share on the matter,” Liliana Lopez, public information officer for Montgomery County Public Schools, told The Epoch Times by email.

It is unclear when the Supreme Court will consider the petition.