A federal judge appointed by President Joe Biden ruled against Maryland parents on Thursday, saying that parents have no right to opt their children out of classes teaching an LGBTQ+ curriculum.
Since Biden took office, the push has intensified to indoctrinate children into LGBTQ lifestyles through the public education system. Parents are increasingly pushing back and several lawsuits are moving through the courts.
The parents of elementary school-age children sued Maryland’s Montgomery County Public Schools, asking that the district reinstate a previous policy that allowed parents to withdraw their children from LGBTQ-related materials. The district had such a policy at the beginning of the year, but then withdrew the policy in March.
“In March of this year, the defendants—the Montgomery County Board of Education, the MCPS superintendent, and the elected board members (collectively, the “School Board”)—announced that parents no longer would receive advance notice of when the storybooks would be read or be able opt their children out. Following the announcement, three families of diverse faiths filed suit against the School Board, claiming the no-opt-out policy violates their and their children’s free exercise and free speech rights under the First Amendment, the parents’ substantive due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, and Maryland law,” the opinion explained.
“A critical part of the School Board’s approach is representation of diverse identities and communities in the curriculum. ‘Representation in the curriculum creates and normalizes a fully inclusive environment for all students’ and ‘supports a student’s ability to empathize, connect, and collaborate with diverse peers and encourages respect for all,’” the school district argued.
“The Court concludes the plaintiffs’ asserted due process right to direct their children’s upbringing by opting out of a public-school curriculum that conflicts with their religious views is not a fundamental right,” wrote Judge Deborah L. Boardman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
Late last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention encouraged schools to push the LGBTQ agenda: “Schools play a critical role in supporting the health and academic development of all youth, including the success of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) youth,” the CDC stated. “Creating and sustaining inclusive school environments, policies, programs, and practices that include LGBTQ youth is one strategy for improving the health and academic success of all youth.”
The CDC also encouraged leaders to “advocate for LGBTQ inclusive and affirming materials in all school and classroom environments” and to participate in the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance.
