On April 22 the U.S. Supreme Court will begin hearing a case brought by a group of parents who unsuccessfully sued Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) for not having a policy to notify families when LGBTQ+ storybooks are used in the classroom and not allowing families to opt out, the courts announced Tuesday morning.
The latest development comes after the court said in January that it would hear the case, which The Washington Post first reported. The parents asked the Supreme Court to take on the case in September, after a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s denial of a preliminary injunction in May 2024.
“Forcing toddlers to learn about drag queens and pride parades without their parents’ knowing is as unconstitutional as it is unnecessary,” Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the firm representing the parents, said in the Tuesday press release.
The group first filed a federal lawsuit in May 2023, arguing against the county school board’s decision to incorporate LGBTQ+ inclusive storybooks into elementary school English language arts curriculum and its policy to not allow parents to opt out their children from instruction. The policy was first articulated by the school board in March 2023 after the district decided to add six new LGBTQ+ inclusive books to its supplemental curriculum for pre-K through fifth grade. MCPS revised the opt-out policy at that time, which stated that teachers would not notify or send a letter home to families when inclusive books are read in the classroom.
Three MCPS families filed the lawsuit against the school board and the MCPS superintendent alleging that the no-opt-out policy violated their constitutional right to religious expression and Maryland law. The lawsuit also alleged the inclusive books promote “political ideologies about family life and human sexuality that are inconsistent with sound science, common sense, and the well-being of children.”
In August 2023, a federal judge denied a motion for an injunction that aimed to force MCPS to rescind its no-opt-out policy temporarily.
A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s decision to deny a request for a preliminary injunction in May. According to the ruling by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, the parents who filed the appeal of the lower court’s denial in the lawsuit against the school system did not provide enough evidence to support their request.
The parents “have not come forward with sufficient evidence of cognizable burden on their free-exercise rights,” the ruling said in part.
After the suit was filed, county families of various faiths — including Islam, Orthodox Christianity and Catholicism — protested the decision outside the school board headquarters multiple times in the summer of 2023. Parents have also continuously presented testimony at school board meetings urging the school district to offer the opt-out accommodation.
In November 2023, Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown – joined by a coalition of 18 other U.S. Attorneys General – filed an amicus brief in support of MCPS’ decision to incorporate the inclusive texts and not allow parents to opt out their student from instruction. The brief stated that the school district’s policy does not violate the Constitution or Maryland law and emphasized the attorney general’s support for “safety and inclusion for LGBTQ+ youth in schools.”
The Montgomery County Education Association, which is the local teachers union, joined the ACLU National and its Maryland chapter, the MoCo Pride Center and other organizations in filing amicus briefs in support of the district as well.
MCPS issued a statement on the ruling after the preliminary injunction was first denied, which cited the judge’s reasoning that “public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive, particularly when the school imposes no requirement that the student violate his or her faith during classroom instruction.”
In January, MCPS spokesperson Liliana López said that MCPS can’t comment on pending litigation. Montgomery County school board President Julie Yang told Bethesda Today in January that she would have to review the case, but the board’s philosophies haven’t changed.
Local LGBTQ+ advocates voiced their disappointment with the court’s decision to take up the case In January.
“The ramifications are chilling and it brings to mind the past when parents felt they had the ‘parental right’ to opt-out their child from learning about Evolution,” Mark Eckstein, an MCPS parent and local LGBTQ+ advocate, wrote to Bethesda Today in a text in January.
Phillip Alexander Downie, CEO of the MoCo Pride Center, a local organization that provides resources, services and events for Montgomery County’s LGBTQ+ community, said in an email statement to Bethesda Today in January that the organization agrees with the school system’s current policy and that it is important for students to be exposed to LGBTQ+ books.
Downie encouraged community members who are concerned about the potential removal of LGBTQ+ books from schools to share their views with elected officials.
“If you’re passionate about supporting inclusive education and want to make your voice heard, we encourage you to speak up at an upcoming school board meeting or reach out to your school officials,” Downie wrote.
Elia Griffin and Mishka Espey contributed to this report.
