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The Supreme Court will consider on Tuesday whether parents can opt out of their kids reading LGBTQ books in the classroom that conflict with their family’s faith.
Parents in Montgomery County, Maryland are claiming their children’s schools are violating their religious freedom by not allowing them to opt out of lessons that use books featuring LGBTQ storylines.
The controversy began in November 2022 when Montgomery County Public Schools introduced new LGBTQ books into the curriculum as part of the district's "inclusivity" initiative. According to Becket, a religious freedom legal group representing the parents' case, the books "champion pride parades, gender transitioning and pronoun preferences for children."
While the school district originally did allow an opt-out option, it announced in March 2023 that the option would not be granted and that parents would not be notified before the books were introduced into their children's classrooms.
The Supreme Court will consider whether parents can opt out of their children reading LGBTQ books in the classroom on Tuesday. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
A federal appeals court ruled in May 2024 that parents can't opt their kids out of reading books with LGBTQ+ content in Montgomery County Schools.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed in January to hear the case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, during its 2024-2025 term.
Grace Morrison, one of the plaintiffs in the case, is a mother of seven children who lives in Montgomery County. Her youngest child, who has Down's Syndrome and other special needs, was attending public school and headed into fourth grade when she was made aware of the new school policy.
"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 especially a child with special needs, it's even more difficult for her to understand," Morrison told Fox News Digital in February.
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Grace Morrison is one of the parents petitioning the Supreme Court to rule that a Maryland school district's ban on parental opt-outs is unconstitutional. (Becket/Getty Images)
Morrison told Fox News Digital that the books in question, including stories that present issues of gender ideology, could be confusing and go against their faith. The plaintiffs in the case include Muslim, Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox practitioners.
According to Becket, the Montgomery County School Board in Maryland is one of the few school boards across the nation to ban notices and opt-outs for parents on sexuality and gender instruction.
Becket attorney William Haun told Fox News Digital that they will center their argument before the Supreme Court on parents' First Amendment rights being violated by this school policy, saying that the Free Exercise clause protects the authority of parents, even with children in public schools, to opt out of instruction that would interfere with their child's religious development.
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Fox News' Kristine Parks contributed to this report.
Hanna Panreck is an associate editor at Fox News.
