WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Jan. 17 agreed to hear an appeal from parents in suburban Washington, D.C., who want to pull their children from elementary school classes that use books featuring LGBTQ characters.
The justices will review an appeals court decision that went against parents in Montgomery County, Md. The parents claim that the policy violates their constitutional religious rights by not allowing them to opt out of lessons that include the storybooks.
The stories include a family’s attendance at a pride parade, a girl’s introduction to her uncle’s husband-to-be, a prince’s love for a knight amid their battle against a dragon, a girl’s anxiety about giving a valentine to another girl and a transgender boy’s decision to share his gender identity with his family.
The parents argue that public schools can’t force kids to participate in instruction that violates their faith. They point to opt-out provisions in sex education and note that the district originally allowed parents to pull their children when the storybooks were being taught, before abruptly reversing course.
The policy led to protests in 2023. Dozens of parents testified at school board hearings about their religious obligations to keep their impressionable young children from lessons on gender and sexuality that conflicted with their beliefs.
The Washington Post reported in October that two of the books, Pride Puppy and My Rainbow, were pulled from the school system’s English-language arts curriculum.
Lawyers for the school system, in urging the justices to stay out of the case, wrote that the books are a small part of the curriculum and that they “tell everyday tales of characters who experience adventure, confront new emotions, and struggle to make themselves heard.” They touch on the same themes found in classic stories that include Snow White, Cinderella and Peter Pan, the lawyers wrote.
It’s not clear whether the case will be argued in the spring, or not until the Court’s new term begins in October.
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