The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on Tuesday that could reshape public education for decades to come, as a group of parents is asking the high court to decide whether public schools requiring elementary-age students to read books with LGBTQ+ themes is a violation of their religious freedom.
During the 2022-23 school year, the public school system in Montgomery County, Maryland, which is just outside Washington, D.C., added LGBTQ+ books in its elementary classrooms, citing the need for more inclusivity. The new books included such stories as a prince and a knight falling in love, a family attending a Pride parade, and a transgender boy coming out to his family.
At first, Montgomery County Public Schools allowed parents to opt their children out of curriculum that included the LGBTQ+ books. But, according to the school system, the number of opt-outs became too burdensome and too many children were missing school. In March 2023, the district changed its policy and made the books required reading for all students.
In response, a group of parents, including Muslims and Catholics, sued the school district, asking for the option to continue removing their children from class. They petitioned the Supreme Court after a federal judge and an appeals court ruled against them.
“It destroys the foundation that they have, the structure of who they are, in God and in our faith,” Billy Moges, a plaintiff in the case, told The New York Times ahead of oral arguments. “And it just makes absolutely no sense. It just defies common sense.” She has since removed her three children from the school system but said she would like for them to return.
The school system is defending the books as a necessary part of the language arts curriculum.
“In addition to helping students explore sentence structure, word choice, and style, the storybooks support students’ ability to empathize, connect, and collaborate with peers and encourage respect for all,” MCPS said in a court filing.
MCPS lawyers also said in a brief that handling the high number of students who would need to be excused would be difficult, and that they worried the number of students missing on days when the books in question were used would “risk of exposing students who believe the storybooks represent them and their families to social stigma and isolation.”
The Supreme Court will hear these arguments at a time when the war on LGBTQ+ people is at a fever pitch. The Trump administration is actively seeking to erase LGBTQ+ people from public life with a blitz of moves, including an executive order that declares there are only two sexes, an attempt to ban “X” gender markers on passports, and lawsuits against states that allow transgender kids to play on sports teams that match their gender identity.
Some recent rulings on religious freedom cases provide a hint of which direction the conservative-majority court will go.
In 2023, the court ruled 6-3 in favor of Joe Kennedy, a Washington high school football coach who sued his school district after he was fired for praying on the field. (He was ultimately rehired, then quit after one game.) That same year, the court also sided with Lorie Smith, a web designer in Colorado who refused to make wedding websites for gay couples. Smith sued her state over its law requiring her to serve everyone equally, saying it violated her religious freedom.
Some educators are warning about the effect that a ruling in the parents’ favor could have on schools.
“This would have a chilling effect on public education,” Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association, said in a statement earlier this month. “As a result, educators will self-censor, face book bans, and, more importantly, prevent some students from being seen and acknowledged.”