February 25, 2026, Washington, D.C. – The Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) celebrates the approval of a consent motion by a federal district court judge last week awarding $1.5 million in damages to Christian and Muslim families in Montgomery County, Md. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor forced the Montgomery County Board of Education to acquiesce to these parents’ reasonable request, denied to them since 2023, to opt their children out of language arts curriculum that introduced “LGBTQ” concepts to students across the district, from kindergarten to high school. 

“We are pleased to see that the constitutional rights of these Muslim and Christian parents continue to be vindicated in federal court,” said RFI President David Trimble, “and that Montgomery County continues to be confronted with the extent of its violation of their parental rights. Upholding these families’ religious freedom is at the core of RFI’s mission – we celebrate them, and celebrate with them, today,” Trimble added. 

In 2023, the Montgomery County Board of Education added instruction into language arts classes across the district promoting same-sex relationships and the idea that children can change their sex. The Board initially gave parents the right to opt their children out of this instruction but then changed course, claiming that requiring all children to encounter these lessons furthered its mission of “inclusion.” Many religious parents viewed the curriculum as promoting ideas about human nature and human sexuality that were contrary to their faith convictions, hence their desire to opt their children out as they are able to do in health classes that might cover similar matters. 

A group of these parents, represented by Becket, then filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that the Board’s denial violated their First Amendment right to the free exercise of their religion and their fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their children. They succeeded in securing a favorable ruling in the U.S. Supreme Court last June. Mahmoud’s reasoning is straightforward:

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. Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U. S. 205, 218 (1972). And a government cannot condition the benefit of free public education on parents’ acceptance of such instruction. (pgs. 1-2) 

Mahmoud recounted key events involving RFI that preceded the legal case. For example, the decision states, “Shortly after the Board rescinded parental opt outs…hundreds of displeased parents, including many Muslim and Ethiopian Orthodox parents, appeared at the Board’s public meetings and implored the Board to allow opt outs.” (pg. 10). 

Since the beginning of this case in 2023, RFI has supported the parents on the ground by helping to organize rallies and assisting in training them to testify at school board meetings. RFI also defended them in the courts and in the court of public opinion.

Under Royer’s leadership, RFI joined four amicus briefs at every stage of the proceedings in Mahmoud, including a brief filed in March 2025 in the Supreme Court alongside Christian Legal Society, Agudath Israel, First Liberty, Focus on the Family, and the National Association of Evangelicals. RFI also filed a brief in October 2024 in the Supreme Court, a brief in October 2023 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and yet another brief in September 2023, also in the Fourth Circuit. In addition to contributing constitutional arguments on behalf of these faithful parents, RFI also defended their free exercise rights in media outlets, from Fox News (here and here) to Dallas Morning News.

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The Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) works to secure religious freedom for everyone, everywhere. RFI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, D.C.

Media Contact: Nathan Berkeley
media@religiousfreedominstitute.org
202-838-7734
www.RFI.org
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