Avast ye scurvy landlubbers! The Maryland Court be sayin' parents can't deny their young'uns learnin' 'bout LGBTQ+ matters. No fundamental right, they reckon!
2023-08-25
Yarr! In Maryland's federal court, the verdict be in: parents be denied the right to steer their young scallywags away from learnin' 'bout LGBTQ+ topics in school. Avast ye, mateys! The tide be turnin' in the classroom.
A federal court in Maryland has ruled that parents cannot opt their children out of reading books with LGBTQ+ content in Montgomery County Schools. The court case, Tamer Mahmoud v. Monica B. McKnight, involved parents who argued that the inclusion of LGBTQ+ characters in elementary school books was a form of indoctrination that violated their religious beliefs. However, Judge Deborah L. Boardman, a Biden appointee, disagreed with the parents' claim. She concluded that the parents' due process right to direct their children's upbringing by opting out of the curriculum was not a fundamental right. The judge denied the parents' request for a preliminary injunction, which would have allowed them to opt their kids out when school begins.This controversy began last year when Montgomery County Public Schools introduced 22 new books featuring LGBTQ+ characters as part of a diversity initiative. Initially, parents were allowed to opt their children out of instruction involving these books, but the policy was changed in March, removing that right. A group of religious families sued, arguing that the policy violated their First Amendment right to guide their children's religious instruction. However, Judge Boardman stated that the no-opt-out policy did not pressure parents to change their religious beliefs or refrain from teaching their faiths. The parents were not pressured into violating their religious beliefs to obtain the benefits of a public education.
The LGBTQ+ books are included in pre-K through eighth-grade classrooms and cover topics such as gay pride parades, gender transition, and pronoun preference. Eric Baxter, the VP and Senior Counsel at Becket, the law firm representing the families, criticized the ruling, stating that it goes against parental freedom and childhood innocence. He argued that the school board should allow parents to decide how and when to educate their children on sensitive issues regarding human sexuality.