Parents can take their children out of school if they are reading books with gay characters in them, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Christian and Muslim parents in Maryland sued to keep their elementary school children out of certain lessons when storybooks with LGBT+ characters were read, claiming it violated their constitutional rights.

At the same time, the Supreme Court also ruled to block judges from thwarting Donald Trump’s move to ban birthright citizenship, the 14th amendment, which makes people born on US soil automatically American regardless of parentage.

The LGBT+ ruling overturned a lower court’s refusal to force public schools in Montgomery County to allow some children to opt out of the classes if desired.

The lower court had rejected the argument made by a group of parents who sued the school district, claiming it violated the Constitution’s First Amendment protections for the free exercise of religion.

The court’s conservative justices were in the majority and its liberal justices dissented from the ruling.

The plaintiffs in the LGBT+ case - who are Muslim, Roman Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox - said in their lawsuit that the storybooks “promote one-sided transgender ideology, encourage gender transitioning and focus excessively on romantic infatuation - with no parental notification or opportunity to opt out.”

Montgomery County said it ended the opt-outs in 2023 when the mounting number of requests to excuse students from these classes became logistically unworkable and raised concerns of “social stigma and isolation” among students who believe the books represent them and their families.

Opt-outs are still allowed by the district for sex education units of health classes.