Supreme Court rules for parents challenging school's LGBTQ story time

The Supreme Court ruled that parents can opt their pre-K and elementary-age children out of story time that includes LGBTQ books.

Parents from mixed faiths in Montgomery County, Maryland, challenged the school district’s required story time, saying the required reading runs afoul of the First Amendment.

In a 6-3 decision, the justices said the lower court should block the school’s policy, which lacked an opt-out option for parents to pull their young children out of the reading and curriculum that was at odds with their faith.

“A government burdens the religious exercise of parents when it requires them to submit their children to instruction that poses ’a very real threat of undermining’ the religious beliefs and practices that the parents wish to instill,” Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote for the majority. “And a government cannot condition the benefit of free public education on parents’ acceptance of such instruction.”

The three Democratic appointees on the high court dissented from the decision.

The dispute stemmed from parents who challenged Montgomery County’s policy requiring public school students to sit through LGBTQ-heavy instructions on tolerance without the chance to opt out. The requirement targeted children as young as 3 years old.

The Montgomery County Board of Education began its inclusivity reading program in 2022 for children from preschool through fifth grade. The program celebrates pronouns, pride parades and gender transitioning.

One of the books, discussed during oral arguments, that was used in the curriculum is “Pride Puppy,” which introduces 3- and 4-year-olds to pride parades. Students can try to spot an “intersex flag,” “drag queen,” “underwear” and “leather.”

Another book also debated by the justices, “Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope,” promotes letting children decide their gender and the idea that doctors only guess at birth.

Teachers were also instructed to tell students that “not everyone is a boy or girl” and “some people identify with both, sometimes one more than the other and sometimes neither.”

The Trump administration sided with the parents in the dispute.

The case is Mahmoud v. Taylor.