Controversy erupted in Maryland’s largest public school district when it introduced more than 20 inclusivity books, some with LGBTQ+ themes, into its elementary schools.
Most states, including Maryland, have laws in place that allow parents to choose whether their children attend sex education.
However, Montgomery County school district has introduced the “inclusivity” books in subjects such as Language Arts class, and school leaders said they would not offer the same opt out choices.
Hundreds of parents from multiple faith backgrounds have joined the case which has gone all the way to the Supreme Court.
Grace Morrison is part of the case through the Kids First organization. She explains why her family joined the lawsuit:
My husband and I have seven children. Our youngest daughter, who is now 12, we adopted from Ukraine as an infant. She has Down syndrome so she has special needs.
We started her in the Montgomery County school system and she continued there until she was 10 years old. We started homeschooling her in 2023 after our local school board introduced a new set of “inclusivity” books for pre-K through fifth-grade students.
Instead of teaching universal lessons about kindness and respect, these books push polarizing views on gender and sexuality while placing an unusual emphasis on children’s romantic emotions.
I was told one book that would be presented in her classroom was called Pride Puppy where children going to a pride parade get an alphabetical list of things to look for, like the “intersex flag,” a “drag queen,” “leather,” and a controversial LGBTQ activist. They were way too advanced and sensitive for children as young as three.
Another book they presented [Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope] was about a little boy who decided he was trans and wanted to become a girl and how his whole family supported him and made him a pink wig. It was telling young readers that the decision to transition doesn’t need to “make sense.”
To be presenting those ideas to children, especially those with special needs, I can’t imagine what confusion that causes. But the school sent out a notice saying we would no longer have the option to opt out.
I was concerned for two reasons: we are in the Catholic faith and opposed to that; and it was not appropriate to her age or her needs.
Until this point we had a great relationship with the teachers, it was very respectful and we worked very well together. I found out from a teacher these materials would be presented in a Language Arts class. It was not just a simple class – it involved teaching.
Maryland, like forty-seven other states, mandates parental notification for Family Life and Human Sexuality classes and allows parents to opt their children out of these lessons. But because these books are tucked into a Language Arts program, somehow they believe it doesn’t require the parents being notified.
I reached out to the principal and was told they adhere to Montgomery County’s policy and if I was not comfortable, this was not a place for my child and to find another school…so we removed our daughter.
I got involved as a board member for Kids First – the organization challenging the school board’s policies in federal court. It’s a diverse group of parents and teachers from all faith backgrounds including Catholic, Muslim and Jewish.
Today, we take our fight — the case “Mahmoud v. Taylor” — to the Supreme Court, asking for the restoration of our fundamental right to guide our child’s education in alignment with our faith.
Every child deserves to experience the innocence of childhood, with their parents playing a central role in guiding them through such complex and sensitive subjects introduced in the classroom.
Our daughter brings great joy to our family. But this sudden change in our family life and routine was unexpected and has cost us a lot. We’ve had to adapt both financially and in our day-to-day living. I would hope that someday I could return my daughter to public school so she would have the benefits of being with a lot of other children and the services provided through schools.
It was very confusing to her in the beginning because other children in the neighborhood still get on the school bus that she’s no longer getting on. But I think she’s adapting fine.
There are ways to teach love and respect and tolerance but not to remove parents from the equation because the school thinks they can do it better.
This is a majority issue — not a transphobic, homophobic or discriminatory issue — and this is about parents being parents and deciding what is best for the children.