The Supreme Court ruled Friday that schools violate religious liberty when they prevent parents from opting their children out of classroom instruction involving LGBT-related content.
In a 6-3 decision, the Court sided with a group of parents from Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, who argued that they should be allowed to exempt their children from lessons that conflict with their religious beliefs. The families involved include Catholics, Muslims, and Ukrainian Orthodox Christians.
At issue were books such as “Prince and Knight,” which depicts a prince falling in love with a knight rather than a princess, and “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,” which centers around a young girl whose uncle marries another man.
Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito determined the school district had infringed on the parents’ First Amendment rights.
“Today, we hold that the parents have shown that they are entitled to a preliminary injunction. A government burdens the religious exercise of parents when it requires them to submit their children to instruction that poses ‘a very real threat of undermining’ the religious beliefs and practices that the parents wish to instill,” Alito wrote.
He added that the “storybooks unmistakably convey a particular viewpoint about same-sex marriage and gender” and that the school board “specifically encouraged teachers to reinforce this viewpoint and to reprimand any children who disagree. That goes far beyond mere ‘exposure.’”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing in dissent and joined by the two other liberal justices, criticized the ruling, arguing it grants “parental veto power over curricular choices long left to the democratic process and local administrators.”
“The reverberations of the Court’s error will be felt, I fear, for generations,” Sotomayor wrote.
Rosalind Hanson, one of the parents who brought the case, told The Daily Wire she welcomed the decision.
“I am thrilled with the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold religious liberty and parental rights against our authoritarian school district pushing a one-sided agenda,” Hanson said. “Our children should never have been forced to learn about such sensitive topics without the ability for parents to know or opt them out.”
President Donald Trump praised the outcome as well, calling it a “tremendous ruling for parents.”
“I think it’s a great ruling for parents. It’s really a ruling for parents. They lost control of the schools, they lost control of their child, and this is a tremendous victory for parents. And I’m not surprised by it, but I am surprised that it went this far,” the president said Friday.
