If it wasn’t clear already, Lexington Public Schools are determined to push progressive sexual ideologies onto elementary schoolers. But we’re working to make sure Lexington parents can protect their kids from this onslaught.
Last fall, we reported that we had sued LPS for exposing a 5-year-old kindergartener to LGBTQ-themed books (including one which featured a Pride parade complete with men in leather bondage gear). Even in light of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor this past summer, which gave religious parents a right to opt out of these materials, the school refused to budge an inch. Fortunately, the court was not impressed, and we were able to obtain a preliminary injunction order protecting our client’s rights.
But while all of this was going on, ANOTHER Lexington parent reached out with a different concern: the school was refusing to opt her 5th grader out of sex education. Of course, Massachusetts law gives parents the right to opt out, and even Lexington couldn’t completely ignore this. Instead, they used a more underhanded tactic and told the mom that while she could opt her son out of sex education class, he would still have to learn the same objectionable material in an “alternative lesson.” Here’s the email their assistant health coordinator sent this mom:
According to the email, the mom had two choices if she wanted to opt her son out: 1) her son could do “alternative” sex ed lessons, or 2) she could identify other “alternative curriculum” that would have to be approved by the school, and the student would still have to “include descriptions of their experiences relating to these developmental issues.”
So, what did Lexington’s “alternative assignments” include? Essentially, everything that is in the normal sex ed curriculum, including lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation, puberty, and sexual intercourse. Here is the letter they sent to parents:
Note the ideology-laced terminology Lexington expected parents to use: Instead of “sex,” they wanted parents to say “sex assigned at birth.” Instead of “male” and “female,” Lexington expected parents to teach their children the phrases “person with a penis” and “person with a vulva.”
This is the same school district that also tells parents in their official sex ed parental notification letter that it’s not worth opting out because their kids will just hear about sex from their classmates anyway, and if they do opt out, they are bad parents because their kids will hold “incorrect or incomplete understandings” of sex. You can read the letter for yourself here.
When this mom reached out to us, we knew we had to respond. We immediately sent Lexington’s assistant health coordinator a legal letter informing her that what Lexington was trying to do was illegal. Schools cannot attempt to end-run around the sex education opt-out law by forcing parents to give their children “alternative lessons” that cover the exact same content. We pointed out that this would defeat the purpose of the law and likely violate the mother’s religious liberty rights under Mahmoud. You can read our letter here (redacted to protect the client’s privacy):
Thankfully, Lexington quickly backed down. We received an email from their director of elementary education which stated that the alternative lessons were “suggested materials only” and that this was all just a misunderstanding (we’ll let you decide whether that explanation holds up to scrutiny based on the email the mom originally received). The director let us know that not only would our client’s son not have to do an alternative sex ed lesson, he would be opted out and wouldn’t have to do any alternative lessons at all.
We’re grateful for this victory, but it shouldn’t take a letter from a lawyer to get schools to follow the law and respect parental rights. We want the message to be spread far and wide: Parents have the right to opt their kids out of sex education, and the school can’t give “alternative” sex ed lessons to get around the law. We hope you’ll help us raise awareness on this important issue!
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