SCOTUS likely to back religious opt-outs for LGBTQ-themed books in schools
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A member of the Capitol Police K-9 unit walks a dog in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on April 7 in Washington, D.C. Photo: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
The Supreme Court seemed inclined Tuesday to rule that parents must be able to opt their children out of school curriculum that includes LGBTQ storylines.
Why it matters: Schools have become a major political battleground — and conservatives seem poised to win a significant victory.
Context: The case involves LGBTQ-inclusive children's books added to the curriculum in Montgomery County, Md., public schools.
- Three sets of parents sued, arguing that their religious freedom was violated because they couldn't opt their children out of classrooms with this material.
- The families are Muslim or Christian.
- "The books are made available for individual reading, classroom read-alouds, and other educational activities designed to foster and enhance literacy skills," the school board wrote in a filing.
Driving the news: During oral arguments Tuesday, the court's conservative justices seemed to side with the parents.
- "Why is the Montgomery County Board of Education in this argument running away from what they clearly want to say?," Justice Samuel Alito said, claiming that the books imposed morality on their readers.
- "They have a view that they want to express on these subjects. And maybe it's a very good view, but they have a definite view, and that's the whole point of this curriculum."
The other side: The court's liberal justices questioned whether allowing families to opt out of exposing their kids to books with LGBTQ themes would expand their ability to opt out of other curriculum.
- "This is not just about books," Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said. "This is about exposure to people of different sexual orientations and the objection, the sincerely held objection, that children shouldn't be exposed to this."
Zoom in: Schools in Maryland's largest school district initially offered families an opt-out but said the policy got unwieldy.
- "It tried that, it failed," Alan Schoenfeld, the attorney representing Montgomery County Public Schools, told the justices. "It was not able to accommodate the number of opt-outs at issue. It then adopted an entirely neutral policy where no opt-outs were permitted."
- Schoenfeld also objected to some conservatives' suggestion that books with LGTBQ themes should be moved to sex ed classes, since parents can already remove their children from that curriculum.
What's next: A ruling is expected by late June or early July.
Go deeper: Books most targeted for bans in 2023 centered on race, LGBTQ themes
