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Montgomery families seek temporary opt-out of LGBTQ+ storybooks

2023-07-22 00:00:00.0 华盛顿邮报-华盛顿特区原网页

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Before classes begin next month, Montgomery County’s school system could know whether it has to temporarily allow parents to opt their students out of lessons that include books featuring LGBTQ+ characters.

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Families suing the school system have asked a judge to issue the injunction while their broader lawsuit for a permanent exemption from the lessons works it way through court. A hearing on that injunction is set for Aug. 9. Attorneys for the families have asked the judge to rule on the temporary hold before the first day of school, Aug. 28.

The parents filed a lawsuit in May, alleging the school system was infringing on their religious rights guaranteed under the First Amendment by restricting whether their children can be pulled out of the classroom while the books are read. They argue that the storybooks lead to discussion in the classroom about gender identity and sexual orientation, topics they say intersect with their faith and should be discussed and introduced to their young children at home.

William Haun, senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who is representing the families, said it filed a request for a preliminary injunction because the parents wanted some resolution before students return to the classroom. Haun said the school system’s current guidelines are a “religious liberty violation” and added that it “needs to be resolved before the harm continues.”

“From our perspective, it was important to have an understanding of our rights and certainty on our rights before school begins,” Haun said.

The storybooks are part of a supplemental curriculum introduced during last school year to diversify the English language arts curriculum. The school system put an opt-out provision in place when the books started being introduced into schools around October, but ended it in March.

Montgomery school officials say that Maryland law doesn’t allow students to withdraw from school lessons, except for a portion of the state’s health education curriculum on family life and human sexuality. Because the books are part of the English language arts curriculum, no exemptions are allowed.

In the school system’s response filing, its attorneys said that the current policy is lawful “because it doesn’t coerce [the families] into refraining from raising their children according to their religious values or penalize their efforts to direct their children’s religious upbringing.” They added that school district leaders met with various principals and began to understand that “individual schools could not accommodate the growing number of opt out requests without causing significant disruptions.”

Stephanie Williams, general counsel for Montgomery schools, declined an interview, and stated through a spokesman for the school district that “We will not speak to any litigation strategy.”

The books were added to the curriculum after feedback from teachers, parents and other school community members that the English language arts books used by the district didn’t mirror the experiences and diverse cultures of Montgomery’s student body, Peggy Pugh, the district’s chief academic officer, said during a school board meeting Thursday.

A book evaluation committee in 2022 vetted several storybooks before seven were approved, including “Love Violet,” about a girl who is trying to figure out how to give a valentine to her crush, another girl in class, and “My Rainbow,” about a mom who makes a rainbow wig for her transgender daughter.

“It’s not a curriculum about sex, sexual identity, sexual orientation,” Pugh said. “It’s an English class that deals with teaching and learning the standards of reading and writing.”

Ahead of a school board meeting Thursday, hundreds of parents protested outside in favor of an opt-out. The protests, which have been going on for weeks, have become the main issue at school board meetings, even though the topic usually isn’t on the agenda.

During Thursday’s meeting, several parents addressed the school board, requesting an exemption. Two Montgomery students who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community also told the school board that the books help empower students.

Superintendent Monifa McKnight ended the discussion, noting educators’ responsibility to students as the contentious issue is decided.

“This is about reflection on change, change even though we may see it all differently,” she said. “… After this decision … we still have to be able to come together for our children.”

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