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Supreme Court considers parents’ challenge to Montgomery County opt‑out removal for LGBTQ‑inclusive children’s books
Summary
A dispute over whether parents can be denied an opt‑out from classroom use of LGBTQ‑inclusive storybooks in Montgomery County public schools is before the U.S. Supreme Court after the Fourth Circuit denied a preliminary injunction; oral argument was heard April 22.
Legislative counsel Bethany Champs briefed the House Education Committee on May 20 about Mahmood v. Taylor, a case in which parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, sued after the county school board removed a previously available opt‑out for a set of LGBTQ‑inclusive children’s books used in early elementary classrooms.
Champs, legislative counsel in the Office of Legislative Council, told the committee the books were adopted through ordinary curriculum processes and were described by the Fourth Circuit as “storybooks” used to teach basic reading concepts. Initially the district allowed year‑to‑year opt‑outs; the board later removed the opt‑out option and several parents sought a preliminary injunction to restore it while litigation proceeded.
Why it matters: the dispute frames how the Free Exercise Clause applies to…
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