Trump administration backs objections to gay tolerant school books

 The Trump administration told the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that a Maryland school district is burdening religious freedom by not allowing parents to shield their children from hearing LGBTQ-themed books in the classroom. The case Mahmoud v. Taylor is Docket # 24-297

QUESTION PRESENTED Whether a public school’s decision to compel children to participate in instruction that violates their parents’ sincere religious convictions—without notice or an opportunity to opt out—constitutes a cognizable burden under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. 

The U.S. Department of Justice urged the justices to scrap a lower court ruling in favor of Montgomery County [Maryland's] no-opt-out policy from its readings in elementary schools, which include books exhibiting respect for LGBTQ lifestyles.

"The Board’s no-opt-out policy burdens petitioners’ religious practice by forcing them to send their children to classrooms that will instruct their children using the storybooks’ materials involving gender and sexuality," acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris wrote in an amicus brief.

Harris added that the justices could resolve the case narrowly by sending it back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to determine whether that burden is nevertheless constitutional. Ultimately, Harris wrote, the no-opt-out policy is "unlikely" to satisfy strict constitutional scrutiny as it neither serves a "compelling interest" nor is "narrowly tailored" to achieve that goal.

The case, which the justices will hear on April 22, is the latest in a string of religious liberty disputes to reach the Supreme Court. The court's conservative supermajority has frequently sided with religious litigants bringing claims under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment against various governmental entities, from school districts to civil rights commissions.

The plaintiffs include Muslim, Roman Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox parents who say the Montgomery County Board of Education has refused to allow them to prevent their children from hearing "LGBTQ-inclusive" storybooks introduced by the board in November 2022.

One of the books includes an alphabet primer called Pride Puppy! about a family whose dog gets lost at a Pride parade for LGBTQ rights. The parents say the school board overrode concerns from principals about the content of certain material and, in March 2023, eliminated a notice and opt-out policy that notified parents when certain materials would be read, inspiring protests from religious groups.

Below, a federal district court refused to issue an injunction against the county board, a decision the Fourth Circuit affirmed in a divided ruling. The appeals court said the parents had not shown sufficient evidence that the board's lack of an opt-out policy burdened their religious exercise.