US Supreme Court to weigh objections to elementary school LGBT storybooks

John Kruzel - Reuters - 22/04
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider on Tuesday a bid by Christian and Muslim parents in Maryland to keep their elementary school children out of certain classes when storybooks with LGBT characters are read in the latest case involving the intersection of religion and LGBT rights.
  • Religious parents oppose LGBT storybooks in public school
  • Maryland school district refuses to let children opt out
WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider on Tuesday a bid by Christian and Muslim parents in Maryland to keep their elementary school children out of certain classes when storybooks with LGBT characters are read in the latest case involving the intersection of religion and LGBT rights.
The justices are due to hear arguments in an appeal by parents with children in public schools in Montgomery County, located just outside of Washington, after lower courts declined to order the local school district to let children opt out when these books are read.

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The parents - who include Muslim, Roman Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox plaintiffs - contend that the school board's policy of prohibiting opt-outs violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections for free exercise of religion.
The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, has steadily expanded the rights of religious people in recent years, including in cases involving LGBT people. For instance, the court in 2023 ruled that certain businesses have a right under the First Amendment's free speech protections to refuse to provide services for same-sex weddings.
The Montgomery Country district in 2022 approved a handful of storybooks that feature lesbian, gay, bisexual and...
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