Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Religious Parents Against LGBTQ+ Books

In a fiery dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued that for poorer school districts, it may be too costly to engage in lawsuits over opt-outs or spend funds tracking student absences. “Schools may instead censor their curricula, stripping material that risks generating religious objections,” she wrote. “The Court’s ruling, in effect, thus hands a subset of parents the right to veto curricular choices long left to locally elected school boards.” 

“In a time of ever-increasing polarization in our country, exemptions that would require schools to allow children to refuse exposure to materials and curriculum about people from various backgrounds is divisive and harmful,” Deborah Jeon, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland said in April before the court heard oral arguments.

The conservative justices didn’t see it that way. “They’re not asking you to change what’s taught in the classroom,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh said during arguments. “They’re only seeking to be able to walk out … so the parents don’t have their children exposed to these things that are contrary to their own beliefs.”