Parents Seek Appeals Court for Opt-Outs for ‘Pride’ Storybooks
A group of multi-faith religious parents were in a federal appeals court Tuesday fighting for the right to opt their children out of LGBTQ storybooks that push one-sided ideology regarding gender and sexuality. The parents see it as extremist ideology, saying it’s “forced inculcation.”
Attorneys with Becket argued the parents’ case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The nonprofit religious rights law firm is supporting Muslim, Jewish and Christian parents from Maryland who are fighting to restore their ability to raise their children consistent with their faith.
In Mahmoud v. McKnight, the Montgomery County Board of Education took away parental notice and opt-outs for storybooks that advocate Pride parades, gender transitioning and pronoun preferences for kids as young as four years old.
The 48-page complaint alleges the board violated Maryland law and the First Amendment rights of parents. The lawsuit asserts that the free exercise of religion means the parents have a right to opt their children out of lessons that use Pride Storybooks. The books are a series of children’s books from the LGBT activist group the Human Rights Campaign promoting gay and transgender themes, according to The Washington Examiner.
As CBN News has reported, these so-called “inclusivity” books were announced for pre-K through eighth-grade students in the fall of 2022. Instead of focusing on basic principles of respect and kindness, the books champion controversial ideologies around gender and sex and focus on children’s romantic feelings.
For example, one book tasks four-year-olds to search for images from a word list that includes “intersex flag,” “drag queen,” “underwear,” “leather” and the name of an LGBTQ activist and “sex worker.” Another book advocates a child-knows-best approach to gender transitioning, telling students that a decision to transition doesn’t have to “make sense”; teachers are instructed to say doctors only “guess” when identifying a newborn’s sex anyway. {eoa}
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