The U.S. Supreme Court handed a victory Friday to Montgomery County parents who object, for religious reasons, to the school system’s use of LGBTQ+-themed books in classrooms, saying parents should be allowed to opt their children out of such classes.
The 6-3 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor sent the case back to lower courts for a full hearing, but the majority left little doubt where it stands on the issue, with Justice Samuel Alito writing for the court that the parents have “shown that they are very likely to succeed in their free exercise” of religion claims.
“The Board’s introduction of the LGBTQ+-inclusive” storybooks into the literature curriculum, along with its decision to deny opt-outs as it does for other topics, “places an unconstitutional burden on the parents’ rights to the free exercise of their religion,” Alito wrote.
“The Board should be ordered to notify them [parents] in advance whenever one of the books in question or any other similar book is to be used in any way and to allow them to have their children excused from that instruction,” the majority opinion said. Alito was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
In a sharp, 38-page dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor — joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — said the majority’s ruling would create “chaos” for the nation’s public schools, which will be required to “provide advance notice and the chance to opt out of every lesson plan or story time that might implicate a parent’s religious beliefs.”..
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