26 states, 66 members of Congress & faith groups urge Supreme Court to restore Pride book opt-outs Muslims, Jews, Christians, states, lawmakers ask Justices to protect parental rights

WASHINGTON – Sixty-six members of Congress, 26 states, diverse faith groups, and legal scholars asked the Supreme Court yesterday to ensure that parents can opt their children out of storybooks that push one-sided ideology on gender and sexuality. In Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Montgomery County 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. Becket represents Muslim, Christian, and Jewish parents who challenged the ban on elementary school opt-outs in federal court in 2023 (Watch this short video to learn more). 

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. For example, one book tasks three and four-year-olds to search for images from a word list that includes “intersex flag,” “drag queen,” “underwear,” “leather,” and the name of a celebrated LGBTQ activist and sex worker. Another book advocates a child-knows-best approach to gender transitioning, telling students that a decision to transition doesn’t have to “make sense.” Teachers are instructed to say doctors only “guess” when identifying a newborn’s sex anyway. The School Board revoked notice and opt-outs for these storybooks last year, which violates Maryland law, the Board’s policies, and the advice of its own elementary school principals. 

Highlights from yesterday’s filings include:

• The Solicitor General of the United States discusses the “obvious” religious exercise by parents in seeking to shield their children from instruction that violates their religious beliefs and how the Board has violated that religious exercise under a long line of Supreme Court cases. 

• 26 states highlight the longstanding national tradition of protecting parental direction on sexuality and gender instruction.  

• 66 members of Congress emphasize the long federal policy of encouraging cooperation between public schools and families over what their children learn in the classroom, and how no federal law requires Montgomery County to withdraw the parents’ notice and opt-out rights. 

• 35 members of the Maryland legislature explain why Maryland law requires affording religious families notice and opt-outs from this instruction, and how the Maryland legislature is trying to circumvent the families’ protections.

• A diverse array of ten religious organizations asks the Supreme Court to protect religious families with public school children from the devastating implications of reducing free exercise protections to direct coercion. 

• Religious liberty law scholars, led by Michael McConnell, Douglas Laycock, Thomas Berg, David Smolin, and Richard Garnett, explain the proper approach to free exercise burdens in the public school context. 

• Legal scholar Helen Alvaré and twelve state family institutes explain the important role of public school authority figures and the influence of transmitting a family’s religious traditions.  

• Legal historians Eric DeGroff and Ernie Walton, show the long historical tradition of protecting parental religious authority over their child’s education, including in the public school context.  

• Prominent legal groups including America First Legal Foundation and Americans for Prosperity, explain the lack of historical pedigree for the controversial and one-sided instruction here, and how it goes beyond the delegated authority of parents to their public schools.  

“As this outpouring of support makes clear, parents don’t take a backseat to anyone when it comes to raising their kids,” said Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. “Montgomery County’s decision to run roughshod over parental rights betrays our nation’s traditions and common sense. The Justices should restore the opt-out and allow parents to raise their children according to their beliefs.” 

You can find all friend-of-the-court briefs filed in this case at the link here. The case will be argued on April 22, 2025.