Headline Roundup • April 24th, 2025
Supreme Court Appears to Favor Religious Parents in LGBTQ+ Books Case
Supreme Court,Education,Parental Rights In Education,LGBTQ Issues,Religion And Faith,Culture War,Public Schools
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The Supreme Court seems likely to side with a group of religious parents who sued a Maryland school board over its refusal to allow their K-5 children to opt out of an LGBTQ+ curriculum.
The Details: In 2022, the Montgomery County Board of Education announced new “inclusivity” books for K-5 students and removed the option for parental notice and opt-outs for storybooks discussing topics like gender transitions, pride parades, and preferred pronouns. The parents, a mix of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish backgrounds, argue that the curriculum infringes on their religious rights. The parents appealed to the Supreme Court after a federal court upheld a lower court decision that sided with Maryland’s largest school district. During oral arguments, Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Samuel Alito, and John Roberts showed sympathy towards the parents' claims, questioning the board's refusal to provide an opt-out and the burdens it places on religious rights. Justices Kentanji Brown Jackson, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan were more sympathetic to the school board.
For Context: The Supreme Court's decision in this case is expected by the end of June. In past decisions involving LGBTQ+ issues and relgious rights, the Supreme Court has backed religious rights. Book bans and challenges have been one of the more polarizing culture issues in US politics in recent years.
How The Media Covered It: In an instance of slant, Breitbart (Right bias) reported, “At another point, Justice Neil Gorsuch essentially got Schoenfeld to admit that the school board included the books in the curriculum to 'influence' young minds.” NBC News (Lean Left) covered both sides of the argument neutrally.
Revised by the AllSides staff (of humans) after a first draft from our custom AI. Learn more. Support our mission.
Featured Coverage of this Story
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Tuesday in the first of two cases in April involving religion and public schools. In Mahmoud v. Taylor a coalition of parents from Montgomery County, Md., contend that requiring their children to participate in instruction that includes LGBTQ+ themes violates their religious beliefs and thus their First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion.
Montgomery County, in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., is the largest school district in Maryland and one of the country’s most religiously diverse counties. The dispute before the justices on...
By Astrid Riecken For The Washington Post Via Getty Images
The Supreme Court appeared on Tuesday to lean in favor of a group of religious parents who sued a Maryland school board over its refusal to allow their K-5 children to opt out of LGBTQ+ curriculum.
In 2022, the Montgomery County Board of Education announced new “inclusivity” books for K-5 students and took away parental notice and opt-outs for story books that discuss topics like “gender” transitions, pride parades, and preferred pronouns. Some of the reading materials include The Pride Puppy, Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, and Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope.
...
The Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared likely to rule for parents in Maryland who objected on religious grounds to books made available in a school district's elementary schools that feature stories about gay and transgender characters.
Members of the 6-3 conservative majority, which often backs religious rights, seemed sympathetic during the lively 2½-hour oral argument toward the parents’ claims that the Montgomery County Board of Education violated their religious rights by failing to provide an opt-out for their children.
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