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 appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.

RFI’s position: Parents’ rights to control their children’s exposure to lessons encouraging gender transitioning do not evaporate at the schoolhouse gate, and they suffer cognizable harm when their impressionable child is taught by an authority figure in the classroom what is right and wrong with respect to such moral issues. Furthermore, strict scrutiny applies to the government’s actions in this case because the school allows parents to opt out their children out of instruction other than the “inclusive” curriculum in this case.

Read the brief here.