Muslim and Christian dad and mom have sued the Montgomery County Board of Education to permit them to choose their youngsters out of necessary LGBTQ storybooks and classes, saying they promote an “extreme ideology” on gender and sexuality.
The federal lawsuit asks the courtroom to right away block the “no notice, no opt-out” commonplace slated to enter impact for the 2023-24 educational 12 months, a coverage introduced in March after the district accredited 22 “LGBTQ+ inclusive texts” for grades pre-Ok via 8 designed to advertise “inclusivity.”
The books embrace “Pride Puppy” by Robin Stevenson, which “invites three- and four-year-olds to look for images of things they might find at a pride parade, including an ‘intersex [flag],’ a ‘[drag] king’ and ‘[drag] queen,’ ‘leather,’ ‘underwear,’ and an image of a celebrated LGBTQ activist and sex worker, ‘Marsha P. Johnson,’” the lawsuit states.
“[A]fter mandating new books that advocate pride parades, gender transitioning, and pronoun preferences for kids, the Board announced it would no longer follow the law: parental notice will not be provided, and opt-outs will not be tolerated,” Becket, a religious-freedom authorized institute, mentioned Wednesday in a press launch.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Maryland on behalf of six Montgomery County dad and mom: Tamer Mahmoud and Enas Barakat, Jeff and Svitlana Roman, and Chris and Melissa Persak.
“Despite faith differences, these parents believe the new storybooks are age-inappropriate, spiritually and emotionally damaging for kids and inconsistent with their religious beliefs and sound science,” the Becket launch states. “The lawsuit seeks to restore their ability to help their own children on such complex and sensitive issues.”
An MCPS spokesperson mentioned the district can’t touch upon pending litigation.
The authorized motion comes with households more and more pushing again as public faculties transfer to introduce LGBTQ themes, generally with out parental notification, in addition to help youngsters who need to establish as the other intercourse by hiding their new names and pronouns from their dad and mom.
Montgomery County Public Schools, the biggest faculty district in Maryland, introduced in October that it had accredited at the very least 22 “LGBTQ+ inclusive texts” with out altering the opt-out choice. In March, nonetheless, the district mentioned academics can be anticipated to make use of the “inclusive lessons and texts with all students.”
“Students and families may not choose to opt out of engaging with any instructional materials, other than ‘Family Life and Human Sexuality Unit of Instruction,’ which is specifically permitted by Maryland law,” mentioned the MCPS discover. “As such, teachers will not send home letters to inform families when inclusive books are read in the future.”
The lawsuit argued that the varsity board’s “recent about-face strips away this long-standing protection of parental rights.”
“This violates not just Maryland law and Board policy and practice but also the United States Constitution,” mentioned the movement. “Specifically, the First Amendment’s Religion and Free Speech Clauses and the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause guarantee the parental right to opt children out of classroom instruction on such sensitive religious and ideological issues.”
Montgomery County has stood behind its “no opt-out” choice regardless of pushback from Muslim-rights advocates, who met earlier this month with district officers, in addition to dad and mom who urged the board to maintain the opt-out at a March 28 board assembly.
At the assembly, board member Lynne Harris mentioned the opt-out sends a hateful message.
“Saying that a kindergartener can’t be present when you read a book about a rainbow unicorn because it offends your religious rights or your family values or your core beliefs is just telling that kid, ‘Here’s another reason to hate another person,’” Ms. Harris mentioned, in response to the lawsuit.
The “Pride Storybooks” are about greater than rainbow uniforms, mentioned the submitting, going past instructing kindness and respect by selling “an ideological view of family life and sexuality that characterizes any divergent beliefs as ‘hurtful.’”
For instance, “Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope” by Jodie Patterson, which is accredited for fifth graders, reveals a mom telling her daughter who needs to be a boy that “today you’re my teacher.”
The e book “advocates a child-knows-best approach to gender transitioning, telling students that a decision to transition doesn’t have to ‘make sense’ and that students are the best ‘teacher’ on such matters, not parents or other adults,” the criticism mentioned.
“Children are entitled to guidance from their own parents, who know and love them best, regarding how they’ll be introduced to complex issues concerning gender identity, transgenderism, and human sexuality,” mentioned Eric Baxter, Becket vice chairman and senior counsel. “Forced, ideological discussions during story hour won’t cut it, and excluding parents will only hinder, not help inclusivity.”
Content Source: www.washingtontimes.com