In an appeal filed Thursday, a group of Muslim, Jewish and Christian parents from Maryland school districts is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to protect their right to opt their children out of curriculum about sex and sexuality that they deem age-inappropriate.
The Montgomery County School Board last year removed parental notices and opt-outs for guidance for 3- and 4-year-olds about books that dealt with gender transitions, pride parades and pronoun preferences.
Now, some school district parents are continuing their legal battle, asking the Supreme Court to reinstate curriculum choice after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected it in Mahmood v. Taylor.
Beckett represents the parents; The news was announced on FridayThey argued that not allowing parents to opt out violates Maryland law, board policy and the advice of the board's elementary school principals.
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Montgomery County Public Schools (Getty Images)
William Horn, senior counsel at Becket Law Firm, told Fox News Digital that Montgomery County has a “long tradition” of parents, rather than the government, educating their children on sensitive issues related to gender and sexuality.
“The school board's decision to exclude parents from these discussions defies longstanding tradition and common sense,” he said. “We are calling on the justices to reinstate notice and opt-out and allow parents to raise their children according to their own beliefs.”
In 2022, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) introduced new “inclusive” books into the curriculum for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
For example, one book titled “Pride Puppy” asks three- and four-year-olds to find images based on a vocabulary book that includes the “intersex flag,” “drag queen,” “underwear” and “leather,” as well as the names of famous LGBTQ activists and sex workers, Fox News Digital previously reported. Another book teaches teachers that doctors can only “guess” the gender of newborns.
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The book, titled “Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope,” advocates for what Beckett calls “the child knows best” approach to gender transition. In one passage, a mother teaches her child that the decision to transition does not have to “mean something.” Later in the book, when the child explains his gender choice to a teacher, the teacher portrays herself as a student, learning from the child's experience.
Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has released a new LGBTQ-inclusive book list for elementary schools that is required reading and teaches students as young as 4 years old words like “intersex” and “drag queen.” (Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS))
MCPS told Fox News Digital that because the case is still pending, they have no statement to release on the matter.
Grace Morrison, executive director of Kids First, a parents and teachers group that advocates for notification and opt-out in Montgomery County schools, previously told Fox News Digital that she opposed the district's policy of no longer giving parents the option to opt their children out of the curriculum, because she felt the content would rob her 10-year-old daughter of her innocence.
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“The school board is promoting controversial ideas that have been rejected by governments around the world and criticised by school principals as inappropriate for the target age group.” Commenting on the Supreme Court appeal on Friday, Mr Morrison said: “Children are entitled to a period of innocence. The Supreme Court should take up this case and reinstate the opt-out, allowing parents to decide when and how to teach their primary school-aged children these sensitive topics.”
Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said parents should Parents should not be left behind when it comes to teaching their children about complex and sensitive issues related to gender and sexuality.
“Nearly all states require parental consent for high school students to receive sex education,” he said. “If elementary school students receive sex education during story time, parents should have the right to excuse their children from attending.”
The Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to hear the case this fall.
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