WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — The U.S. Supreme Court today appeared to be on the side of a diverse group of parents in what promises to be a landmark case concerning parents’ rights to opt their children out of pro-LGBT school instruction aimed at students as young as three years old and that promotes a one-sided, left-wing ideology on gender and sexuality.
“In Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Montgomery County, Maryland Board of Education took away parental notice and opt-outs for storybooks that celebrate gender transitioning, pride parades, and pronoun preferences with kids as young as three and four,” explains a statement from the Becket Fund, the attorney group representing a coalition of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish parents.
The books in question were not even intended for use in human sexuality classes but as an integral part of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) English and Language Arts classes.
Even left-leaning Justice Elena Kagan seemed to side with the parents against the MCPS’s drastic opt-out ban forcing young children to be exposed to extreme LGBT and “gender identity” material that not only many religious but also non-religious parents would likely object to.
Kagan said she, too, was struck by the “young kids’ picture books” and, “on matters concerning sexuality, I suspect there are a lot of non-religious parents who weren’t all that thrilled about this. And then you, … add in religion and that’s, you know, even more serious.”
Fox News’ justice correspondent, David Spunt, standing in front of the Supreme Court building said, “It looks like the justices will rule in favor of these parents.”
“This is not education, this is indoctrination,” said Billy Moges, a Montgomery County parent who serves as director of Kids First, in a Fox News interview immediately following today’s hearing.
“This is not only about religion,” said Moges, citing the fact that the parents who have joined Kids First represent many different religions and denominations, as well as atheists. “This is about parents with common sense. No parent with common sense will allow their 3-year-old to learn about sexual behaviors, to learn about sexual body parts.”
“This is wicked,” she added. “This is an attack on children and the family.”
“It’s going to destroy communities,” she predicted, “And when communities are destroyed, the nation will be destroyed.”
Moges affirmed that she and the other parents who seek to opt their children out of these lessons love, respect, and bear no hatred toward those who support this curriculum, but “our kids will not be brainwashed, will not be indoctrinated,” she insisted.
“The School Board is pushing inappropriate gender theory on children and running roughshod over parental rights,” said Grace Morrison, a member of Kids First’s board. “Today, we urged the Court to let kids be kids, and let parents guide their religious future. A child’s innocence, once lost, is gone forever.”
“The new ‘inclusivity’ books were announced in 2022 for students in pre-K through fifth grade. Instead of focusing on basic principles of respect and kindness, however, the books champion controversial ideology around gender and sexuality,” explained the Becket Fund.
According to the original complaint, MCPS “claims authority to introduce pre-K and elementary school kids to certain books (the ‘Pride Storybooks’) that promote one-sided transgender ideology, encourage gender transitioning, and focus excessively on romantic infatuation – with no parental notification or opportunity to opt out.”
“One book invites three- and four-year-olds to look for images of things they might find at a pride parade, including an ‘intersex (flag),’ a ‘(drag) king’ and ‘(drag) queen,’ ‘leather,’ ‘underwear,’ and an image of a celebrated LGBTQ activist and sex worker, ‘Marsha P. Johnson,’” the legal filing noted.
Teachers were also instructed to say doctors only “guess” when identifying a newborn’s sex.
The school board revoked notice and opt-outs for these storybooks, which violates Maryland law, the board’s policies, and the advice of its own elementary school principals.
Parents aren’t the only ones who have expressed concern about the addition of these books to the MCPS curriculum.
Early on, “Montgomery County’s own principals objected that these books were inappropriate for the age, they were dismissive of religion and shaming toward children who disagree,” explained Eric Baxter, Becket Fund vice president and senior counsel, who presented the parents’ case in front of the Supreme Court justices today.
“The board itself withdrew two of the books for what it said were content concerns, because it finally agreed that what parents and petitioners and its own principals are saying was accurate,” said Baxter.
“In this country, we’ve always trusted families to decide when their kids are ready for sensitive topics,” said Eric Baxter. “Children shouldn’t be forced into conversations about drag queens, pride parades, and gender transitions without their parents’ permission. Today, we fought for common sense and parents’ right to guide the upbringing of their children.”