A group of religious parents who did not want their children to be read to or be exposed to LGBT+ inclusive books in school, may opt their children out of class, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday.
In a 6-3 ruling, the conservative wing of the court, which is often sympathetic to religious rights, sided with a group of religious parents in Maryland in a dispute over whether they could remove their children from classes that used books with LGBT+ themes or inclusivity.
The court said it was “the rights of parents” to bring their children up under a religious belief.
“We have long recognized the rights of parents to direct ‘the religious upbringing’ of their children. And we have held that those rights are violated by government policies that substantially interfere with the religious development of children,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the majority.
For now, those parents may remove their children from the class containing books they disagree with while litigation in the case moves forward.
At the center of the dispute are several books that contain LGBT+ characters or storylines in an English language arts curriculum for elementary school-aged children in Montgomery County.
To books include Pride Puppy, which takes readers through the alphabet while sharing the story of a girl whose puppy gets loose while at a pride parade. Also, Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, a story about a girl who worries she will spend less time with her favorite uncle after he marries his boyfriend.
A group of parents in Maryland, from various faith backgrounds, sued the county school board after it implemented the books in the classrooms in 2022 to be more inclusive.
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