Parents from diverse religious backgrounds gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to advocate for their right to opt their children out of lessons that feature books celebrating gender transitioning and same-sex relationships, which they argue contradict their religious convictions.
Wael Elkoshairi, a Muslim parent who unenrolled his daughter from a public school in Montgomery County, Maryland, last year, believes that the local school district is "watering down" parental rights and attempting to indoctrinate children.
Speaking before oral arguments in the case of Mahmoud v. Taylor, the parents argued that the Montgomery County Board of Education violated their rights by refusing to allow opt-outs for their children, despite providing opt-outs for other reasons.
In 2022, the school board introduced a series of "inclusive" LGBT-themed books for pre-K through fifth-grade students, including titles like "Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope" and "Pride Puppy," a picture book about a pride parade that encourages children to search for images of underwear, leather, and drag queens. Although the board initially allowed parents to exempt their children from these materials, it later revoked this option.
Elkoshairi asserted that the situation should not have escalated to the Supreme Court, indicating that the board and Montgomery County Public Schools could have reached an agreement with the parents. Instead, he claimed they decided to "force [LGBT books and themes] down our throats."
He warned, “We can't just look at it as the opt-out. We're looking at a whole movement that is basically dead set on indoctrinating our children into a certain lifestyle that might contradict some people's religious beliefs.”
Next to the rally advocating for parental rights, a group of LGBT activists demonstrated against what they viewed as “book bans.” Many protesters wore rainbow-themed attire, while others held signs reading “Every Family Deserves to Be Seen” and “Our Love Is Louder.”
Billy Moges, director of the nonprofit KidsFirst and one of the parents suing Maryland’s largest school district over the opt-out policy, believes it is inappropriate for schools to teach children about gender identity and sexual orientation, particularly when they might be too young to comprehend these concepts.
As a Christian parent, Moges has taught her children that God created man in His image and does not want them to think that gender identity can be changed based on feelings. Contrary to some claims made by the activists present during the oral arguments, Moges stated that she is not teaching her children to hate anyone who identifies as LGBT.
During the oral arguments, several conservative justices, including Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, questioned why the school board does not believe it is feasible to allow parents to opt their children out of instruction that features LGBT materials. Fellow conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett argued that the contested materials do more than merely inform children of the existence of LGBT-identifying individuals.
In contrast, the liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor asserted that exposing children to LGBT content is not “coercion.” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson suggested that if parents object to the subject matter taught in certain schools, they don't have to send their children there. Liberal Justice Elena Kagan expressed concerns about the broader implications of a ruling in favor of the parents, questioning where to draw the line in allowing students to opt out of specific curricula.
