US Supreme Court to Decide on Parents’ Right to Opt-Out of LGBTQ+ Lessons in Schools

The conservative-majority US Supreme Court is set to hear a case on Tuesday to decide whether parents have the religious right to remove their children from classes where books discussing LGBTQ-related topics are read or discussed.

The case stems from an appeal filed by parents against a Maryland public school district, where, in 2022, books addressing prejudice, homosexuality, and gender identity were introduced into the curricula for kindergarten and elementary school students.

The schools had initially offered parents the chance to opt out of controversial coursework, but later retracted the option, saying: “These opt-outs were unworkable. Some schools, for example, experienced unsustainably high numbers of absent students.”

Parents are filing a lawsuit because the option to opt out of the lessons was revoked. They argue that the schools’ inclusive curriculum violates their Christian and Muslim beliefs, as well as their First Amendment rights.

The complaint alleges that the Montgomery County school board “wants to disrupt” parents’ rights to “pass those beliefs on to their young children.”

In 2022, Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans the teaching of topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity in primary schools.

Court precedents have generally ruled that exposing students to ideas that contradict religious beliefs does not amount to coercion.

The Justice Department under President Donald Trump’s administration has sided with the parents in this case, accusing the schools of “textbook interference with the free exercise of religion.”

The high court’s decision, which will involve its six conservative and three progressive justices, is expected before the current session concludes in late June.