The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that parents have the right to opt their children out of LGBT classroom lessons.
“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,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion. “The Board’s introduction of the ‘LGBTQ+-inclusive’ storybooks, along with its decision to withhold opt-outs, places an unconstitutional burden on the parents’ rights to the free exercise of their religion. The parents have therefore shown that they are likely to succeed in their free exercise claims. They have likewise shown entitlement to a preliminary injunction pending the completion of this lawsuit.”
Without an injunction, parents will “either risk their child’s exposure to burdensome instruction, or pay substantial sums for alternative educational services,” he added. “As we have explained, that choice unconstitutionally burdens the parents’ religious exercise, and ‘[t]he loss of First Amendment freedoms, for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury.'”
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan dissented. Sotomayor wrote that “an opportunity to practice living in our multicultural society” is “critical to our Nation’s civic vitality,” claiming that such “opportunity” will “become a mere memory if children must be insulated from exposure to ideas and concepts that may conflict with their parents’ religious beliefs.”
The lawsuit was brought by the parents of various religious backgrounds against a Maryland school board. While the Montgomery County Board of Education initially allowed parents to opt their children out of the content in 2022, the board reversed course in 2023, leading to the court filing.
Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement that the Court’s decision is a “historic victory” for parental rights.
“Kids shouldn’t be forced into conversations about drag queens, pride parades, or gender transitions without their parents’ permission,” Baxter said. “Today, the Court restored common sense and made clear that parents—not government—have the final say in how their children are raised.”
