The conservative-dominated US Supreme Court is slated to hear a case on Tuesday about whether parents have the religious right to pull their children from classes when books containing LGBTQ-related content are read or discussed.
The court will review an appeal filed by parents against a Maryland public school district where, in 2022, books aimed at combating prejudice and discussing homosexuality and gender identity were introduced to the curricula of 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 suing because the opt-outs were canceled. They say the schools’ inclusive curriculum choices infringe on their Christian and Muslim faiths and 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.”
School systems in some conservative states have already issued book bans or cracked down on library catalogues, with parents and conservative groups saying it is inappropriate for public spaces to host books they accuse of promoting homosexuality and inclusive progressive ideologies.
Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis in 2022 signed a measure widely known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law which prohibits the teaching of subjects related to sexual orientation or gender identity in primary schools.
Court precedent has generally established that exposing students to ideas contrary to religion does not constitute coercion.
The Justice Department of President Donald Trump’s administration supports the parents in the case, accusing the schools of “textbook interference with the free exercise of religion.”
The decision of the high court, with its six conservative and three progressive judges, is expected before the current session ends in late June.
