by Eric Lendrum
On Wednesday, a federal appeals court ruled that parents in Maryland’s largest school district do not have the right to opt their children out of pro-LGBTQ curriculum in the K-5 grades.
As reported by Fox News, the 2-1 ruling by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a previous decision by a lower court, which denied the parents a preliminary injunction based on their alleged failure to prove that the policy would constitute a violation of the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.
The plaintiffs, three pairs of parents who sued Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), argued that their children being forced to read such books as “The Pride Puppy,” “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding” and “Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope,” would be in violation of both federal law and state law.
Such teachings directly clash with what the parents want to teach their children about “what it means to be male and female; the institution of marriage; human sexuality; and related themes.”
The pairs of parents each represented one of the three Abrahamic religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. They were supported in their lawsuit by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and argued that it was their responsibility, not the school’s, to teach their children about sexuality.
But the appeals court ruled that children being exposed to conflicting worldviews is “part of the compromise parents make when choosing to send their children to public schools,” and did not amount to a big enough burden that it would qualify as a First Amendment violation.
“We take no view on whether the Parents will be able to present evidence sufficient to support any of their various theories once they have the opportunity to develop a record as to the circumstances surrounding the Board’s decision and how the challenged texts are actually being used in schools,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge G. Steven Agee, who was appointed by George W. Bush appointee, in the opinion of the majority. “At this early stage, however, given the Parents’ broad claims, the very high burden required to obtain a preliminary injunction, and the scant record before us, we are constrained to affirm the district court’s order denying a preliminary injunction.”
The lone dissent came from U.S. Circuit Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., who was appointed by President Donald Trump.
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Eric Lendrum reports for American Greatness.
