The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on Tuesday in a case brought by Maryland parents challenging a local school board’s decision to prohibit them from opting their young children out of elementary school storybook readings that include themes of pride parades, gender transitions, and drag queens.
The case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, centers on a policy by the Montgomery County Board of Education. Predominantly Muslim and Christian parents argue that the ban on opt-outs infringes upon their rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
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Represented by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the parents contend that the school board is imposing a “new government-imposed orthodoxy about what children are ‘supposed’ to think about gender and sexuality,” which they argue is not a constitutional basis to override parental authority.
Court documents cite examples of books read to elementary students, such as “Pride Puppy,” which reportedly asks students to identify items like “underwear” and the name of an LGBTQ+ activist, and “Intersection Allies,” which prompts discussions about topics like what it means to be transgender.
Initially, the school board allowed parents with religious objections to remove their children from these readings. However, it later reversed this decision, opting not to provide parental notice or the option to opt out.
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The parents’ petition highlights that while the district allows opt-outs for mandated high school sex education classes, it denies them for the “LGBTQ-inclusive” storybooks required for elementary students since 2022. The parents filed their lawsuit in May 2023.
“Forcing toddlers to learn about drag queens and pride parades without their parents knowing is as unconstitutional as it is unnecessary,” said Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. “Our nation has a long tradition of respecting parents’ right to decide when and how to introduce their children to such sensitive topics, and we are confident the Court will uphold that enduring freedom here.”
A lower court, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, ruled 2-1 against the parents last year. The appeals court held that the parents’ free exercise rights were not burdened because the school board had not compelled them to “change their religious beliefs or conduct.”
The court reasoned that “simply hearing about other views does not necessarily exert pressure to believe or act differently than one’s religious faith requires.”
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“Montgomery County is pushing inappropriate gender theory on our children all while neglecting the core education they need to succeed,” said Grace Morrison, board member of Kids First, an association of parents and teachers advocating for notice and opt-outs in Montgomery County Schools. “We pray the Supreme Court puts a stop to this nonsense once and for all and restores parents’ right to raise their own children according to their beliefs.”
The Supreme Court agreed to review the case in January.
The school district maintains that “there is no evidence that any parent or child was penalized for his or her religious beliefs, asked to affirm any views contrary to his or her faith, or otherwise prohibited or deterred from engaging in religious practice.”
However, a brief filed by the Trump administration in support of the parents argued that the lower court “overlooks that the relevant religious practices are parents’ sincere beliefs.” The brief added that the school board’s policy forces parents to “shed their religious beliefs” about how to raise their children within their faith, as they cannot subject their children to the school’s instruction without violating those beliefs.
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Mahmoud v. Taylor is one of several religious liberty cases the Supreme Court is considering this term. In March, the justices heard arguments in a case involving Catholic Charities challenging Wisconsin’s denial of an unemployment tax exemption.
The Court is also scheduled to hear a challenge to the country’s first religious charter school on April 30, which the Oklahoma Supreme Court found violates the First Amendment’s establishment clause.
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