WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — 66 Republican members of Congress have filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting a parental challenge to a Maryland school board’s refusal to let parents opt their children out of school lessons featuring pro-LGBT proselytization.
Mahmoud v. Taylor concerns Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) mandating a list of LGBT reading materials for children in kindergarten through fifth grade, including “Prince and Knight,” a fairytale about a male knight and a prince who get “married,” a book on 50 “LGBTQ+” historical figures titled “Rainbow Revolutionaries,” and the pro-transgender book “Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope.”
The district initially allowed parents to opt out but soon reversed itself in the name of fostering “inclusive and safe spaces for students.” Last May, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the parents’ request for a preliminary injunction.
“The plaintiffs were clear that they are not trying to change the curriculum,” Becket Fund for Religious Liberty CEO Mark Rienzi said. “They’re not trying to remove books from the classroom. They’re not saying the government can’t decide to teach this stuff, but they are saying that the government does have to let parents know when it’s going to give them this kind of indoctrination on sex and gender.”
In January, the nation’s highest court agreed to hear the case, with oral arguments expected to begin in the spring.
The Daily Caller reports that Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee and Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services & Education, spearheaded the effort to back the challenge in the interest of religious freedom and parental rights.
“[M]ay the state condition a child’s participation in public schooling on the child’s parents’ ceding to the government the right to indoctrinate the child on contested moral and religious issues – even when such teaching violates the parents’ moral and religious commitments?” the brief states. “The answer to both questions – as Congress has long recognized in its legislation – is no.”
“Indeed, federal law has consistently protected parental rights in the educational arena,” it points out. “What the parents in this case seek for free exercise reasons is very much in keeping with this congressional tradition.”
The indoctrination of children with left-wing ideology on sexuality, race, and other left-wing agenda items has long been a major concern in American public schools, from libraries to athletic and restroom policy to drag events to classroom materials to even “transitioning” troubled children without parental input. Many schools have also displayed hostility to the rights and employment of individual teachers who refuse to go along with such agendas.
The Trump administration has taken steps to depoliticize public education, including by ordering the elimination of federal funds to schools that continue diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and by reversing the Biden administration’s infusion of gender ideology into Title IX rules.
