In a 6-3 decision issued this morning, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that religious parents have the constitutional right to opt their children out of classroom materials that promote views on gender and sexuality that conflict with their faith. The case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, centered on the Montgomery County Board of Education’s 2022 decision to eliminate parental notice and opt-out options for newly introduced storybooks aimed at pre-K through fifth-grade students.
Some of the storybooks at issue have drawn national attention for their provocative content. One book teaches that doctors merely “guess” a baby’s sex at birth. Another encourages preschoolers to find images such as “drag queen,” “underwear,” and “leather,” at a pride parade. A third implies that a girl who likes math, skateboards and karate must really be a boy. These books, introduced under the banner of “inclusivity,” include content celebrating gender transitions, same-sex attraction, and pronoun preferences—even for children as young as three and four. While older students retained the right to opt out of similar topics presented in health class, the school board’s blanket policy removed that option for younger children, sparking widespread concern.
The legal challenge was brought by Becket, a nonprofit law firm representing a diverse group of religious parents (Muslim, Jewish, and Christian) who argued the policy conflicted with their faith and undermined their role in their children’s upbringing. To learn more about Becket’s work on this landmark case, click here.
Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito affirmed that the Constitution protects the right of parents “to direct the religious upbringing of their children,” and that this right “would be an empty promise if it did not follow those children into the public school classroom.” He pointed out that the books at issue were “unmistakably normative” and “clearly designed to present certain values and beliefs as things to be celebrated and certain contrary values and beliefs as things to be rejected.”
Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said: “This is a historic victory for parental rights in Maryland and across America. Kids shouldn’t be forced into conversations about drag queens, pride parades, or gender transitions without their parents’ permission. Today, the Court restored common sense and made clear that parents—not government—have the final say in how their children are raised.”
Today’s decision reinforces a long-standing principle: that parents, not the government, have the primary responsibility to guide the moral and spiritual development of their children—even within public schools.
At MFI we have been awaiting the decision in this case, and we believe this favorable ruling for parental and religious rights holds great potential for MA families. The issue faced by the parents in Mahmoud v. Taylor is strikingly similar to what many MA parents face when they seek to opt their young children out of reading some of these very same books. Stay tuned for further legal analysis from the Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center on the impact of this decision here in MA later this summer.
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