Supreme Court restores parents’ rights to opt children out of LGBTQ storybook time

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 By Timothy Cockes - Posted at Baptist Press:

Published June 27, 2025

WASHINGTON (BP) – The United States Supreme Court ruled Friday (June 27) that parents of public-school children in Montgomery County, Md., have a right to opt their kids out of classroom reading times with books the school board labels as “LGBTQ inclusive.”

These books were introduced as part of a new curriculum in 2022 that included more than 20 new inclusivity books for pre-K through eighth-grade students. They promote storylines that teach gender is more a construct than a biological fact.

Some examples of books that may be read to students include “Pride Puppy” about a dog lost at a Pride parade or “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding” in which Bobby’s niece is confused by her uncle’s marriage to a man, but her mother “corrects” her.

The school board’s opt-out option for students was discontinued a year after the curriculum was introduced, leading a coalition of more than 300 Christian, Muslim and Jewish parents to file a lawsuit known as Mahmoud v. Taylor. Tamer Mahmoud, the petitioner in the case, is a Muslim Montgomery County parent, while the defendant in the case is Thomas Taylor, Montgomery County superintendent.

The coalition of parents claimed the board reversed decades of policy when it withdrew a previous commitment to tell parents when such curricula would be included and to allow parents to opt their children out of instruction at those times.

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