Last fall, at a dinner in Baltimore hosted by the Maryland Family Institute, I met a father whose deep concern for his young son is shared by parents like you and me all across Pennsylvania. In Washington, that father, Jeff Roman, and his wife, Svetlana, had their parental rights case heard by the United States Supreme Court. Here’s what’s up:
This Maryland dad and his family reside in Potomac, the same town where I grew up and went to school. They chose this community in part because of the reputation of the local schools, which were known for high academic standards and performance. Like all parents, they want the best for their son.
LGBTQ+ Indoctrination
But as the school year began in 2022, the Montgomery County (MD) Board of Education announced over 20 new “inclusivity” books for its pre-K through eighth-grade classrooms. However, these books were not about kindness or civility. Instead, as described by the Becket Fund, a religious-liberty law firm that is representing the Romans and other families involved in the case, these books champion pride parades, gender transitioning, and pronoun preferences for children.
For example, one book tasks three- and four-year-olds to search for images from a word list that includes “intersex flag,” “[drag] queen,” “underwear,” “leather,” and the name of a celebrated LGBTQ activist and sex worker.
Another encourages fifth graders to discuss what it means to be “non-binary.” Other books advocate a child-knows-best approach to gender transitioning, telling students that a decision to transition doesn’t have to “make sense” and that doctors only “guess” when identifying a newborn’s sex anyway.
The teacher’s guide to another book about a playground same-sex romance invites schoolkids to share with classmates how they feel when they “don’t just ‘like’ but … ‘like like’” someone. The curriculum suppresses free speech and independent thinking by having teachers tell students they are “hurtful” if they question these controversial ideologies.
No Opt-Outs
When this new “inclusive” curriculum and book list was announced, parents were informed that they would be notified in advance about which materials would be presented and could choose to opt their children out of such teaching and materials. However, shortly thereafter, that small concession to parental rights was retracted, and the school board decided that all children would be taught this material, regardless of parental preferences.
As you can imagine, there was significant outrage over this trampling of parental rights, not only from Jeff and Svetlana Roman but also from parents from a variety of religious perspectives—Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. Together, these parents chose to fight back through the legal process, leading to today’s oral arguments at the Supreme Court in the case Mahmoud v. Taylor.
Those on the other side, who oppose any parental opt-out, will claim that allowing parents a say is tantamount to “banning books.” That argument may make for a good soundbite, but it is patently absurd. As Independence Law Center Senior Counsel Jeremy Samek puts it,
Just as parents’ efforts to prevent religion from being forced on children in public schools are not considered a “book ban” on religion, the desire of parents to prevent the imposition of gender ideology on their children is not an attempt to “ban books.” Simply put, just as we all agree that public schools should not coerce children to adopt beliefs on sensitive issues, such as religion, public schools should also refrain from coercing children into gender ideology.
Fighting Back
Our Independence Law Center wrote and filed an amicus brief in this case on behalf of all who partner with us at the Pennsylvania Family Institute. Our Chief Counsel, Randall Wenger, was at the High Court when the Justices heard the case.
Our counterpart organization in Annapolis, the Maryland Family Institute, also filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of parental rights, which was signed by many of our sister organizations across the country.
Please join us in praying for a just result in this court challenge, and that the courageous stand for parental rights taken by the Maryland dads and moms involved in this case will inspire positive and effective engagement by parents in schools throughout Pennsylvania and our nation.
