by Nicole Asbury – Aug 2023

Montgomery County’s mandate that students read books with LGBTQ characters forces religious families either to forfeit their beliefs or depart the public school system, lawyers for Muslim and Christian families suing the district said during oral arguments Wednesday at the U.S. District Court for Maryland in Greenbelt. They are asking Judge Deborah Boardman to grant their children permission to opt out of reading those books now, before the school year begins, while a lawsuit over a permanent exemption proceeds.

The books are a part of a supplemental English Language Arts curriculum the school system introduced this year. Teachers can pick which titles to read in the classroom. Books were suggested at every grade level, but the lawsuit focuses on those for elementary-schoolers. These include “Love, Violet,” a story about a girl who develops a crush on her classmate and contemplates how to create a card for her for Valentine’s Day, and “My Rainbow,” the tale of a mom who makes a colorful wig for her transgender daughter.

The parents filed the lawsuit in May, alleging that the school system — which is Maryland’s largest with about 160,000 students — was infringing on their religious rights guaranteed under the First Amendment when it canceled an earlier policy allowing families to opt out. In court Wednesday, their attorney, Eric Baxter, said classroom discussions that spur on questions about sexuality and gender identity violate their religious beliefs.

Montgomery County principals concerned over school books with LGBTQ characters

Several demonstrators were outside the courthouse Wednesday in support of the lawsuit. They held up signs that said, “Let parents parent,” and called for the school system to put an opt-out back in place.

Montgomery schools’ attorneys rebutted that the supplemental curriculum encroached on anyone’s religious freedoms.

Alan Schoenfeld, an attorney representing Montgomery County schools, said that “exposure to these ideas doesn’t violate the Constitution.” The plaintiffs cited no evidence that teachers were instructed to tell a student what to believe from the books, Schoenfeld said. He added that the earlier opt-outs were granted for any reason — whether political, religious or other — and as such, revoking them did not discriminate specifically against religious families. It applies to everyone equally, he said.

The central question of the case is whether the school district targets religious worship or is neutral toward it, said David Callaway, a religious freedom specialist at Freedom Forum, a nonpartisan foundation that studies the First Amendment.

He pointed to two previous First Amendment rulings that require the government to remain neutral toward religion. In the first, Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the court decided in favor of a Colorado baker who refused to create a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. In the second, Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of Hialeah, the court ruled that a Florida city’s ban on animal sacrifice breached the constitutional right to the free exercise of religion.

On Wednesday, Boardman seemed skeptical of the argument that a supplemental curriculum could restrict parents’ ability to pass down their faith. “If you’re a parent … you can still espouse your religious views,” she said.

Baxter argued that the school system is attempting to impose a specific viewpoint on young students that conflicts with the parents’ sincerely held religious beliefs. Since the audience for these books are so impressionable, parents have a difficult time staving off the controversial views in the books, he said.

By law, schools in Maryland are already required to provide an opt-out for lessons in health class on family life and human sexuality, he said, and these books touch on the same topics of sexuality and gender identity. “There is no question these students are being taught this material in health class,” he said, adding that it was conflicting for students to be able to opt out of these discussions only in one subject area.

Schoenfeld replied that the health education framework and the new English Language Arts curriculum are distinct.

Boardman said she would make a decision on a temporary opt-out before the school year starts Aug. 28.