Summary of facts: The Montgomery County Board of Education (MCBOE) introduced storybooks into its language arts program intended to teach children that people can change their sex and that sexual relationships between people of the same sex are morally acceptable. Maryland state law permits parents to exempt their children from sex education instruction in health class, but the district argues that this right to “opt out” does not apply to the storybooks because they are part of the language arts curriculum. Muslim and Christian parents sued in federal district court, arguing that MCBOE is violating their constitutional rights to religious freedom and to direct the upbringing of their children. The district court denied the parents’ motion for a restraining order, holding that parents have no right to exempt their children from these lessons. The parents appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The appeals court held that MCBOE’s policy might violate the parents’ rights if teachers actually coerced their children, but that the evidence submitted at this stage did not show such coercion had occurred. The parents are now seeking review in the U.S. Supreme Court.

RFI position: When the government coerces participation in education on sex and “gender” that undermines the parent’s guidance and instructions, such coercion (at the very least) imposes an unconstitutional burden on parents’ religious freedom and the exercise of their fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children. A contrary conclusion would have cataclysmic consequences for the religious and nonreligious families nationwide whose convictions are directly contrary to the mores promoted by state schools.

Read the amicus brief here.