ACLU and LGBTQ+ groups defend Maryland schools' LGBTQ+ curriculum in Supreme Court filing

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Maryland, and Advocates for Trans Equality have filed amicus briefs at the U.S. Supreme Court supporting a Maryland school district that is preventing students from opting out of reading books with LGBTQ+ themes and characters.

The case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, pits educators at the Montgomery County Public School District against a coalition of five Christian, Jewish, and Muslim parents who sued after the district barred opt-outs from having their children exposed to LGBTQ+ books added to its English Language Arts curriculum in 2022. At the time, the district allowed opt-outs for both secular and nonsecular reasons but eliminated the policy for pre-K through fifth grade in 2023 after finding it said the opt-outs were disruptive to the educational process and stigmatized LGBTQ+ students or students with LGBTQ+ family members.

In its amicus brief, the ACLU argues that because the district’s policy is religion-neutral, it is not subject to heightened scrutiny afforded cases of religious discrimination, even if the instructional materials violate the protected religious beliefs of the parents acting on behalf of their children. Amicus, or "friend of the court" briefs, are filed by parties not directly involved in a case but wanting to share an opinion on it.

“Religious liberty is fundamentally important, but it doesn’t force public schools to exempt students from secular lessons that don’t align with their families’ religious views,” Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, said in a press release. “Mandating opt-outs would wreak havoc on public schools, tying their hands on basic curricular decisions, stoking divisiveness and disruption, and undermining a core purpose of public education — to prepare students to live in our pluralistic society.”

“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,” said Deborah Jeon, legal director for the ACLU of Maryland. “Our education system should be one that embraces differences as an opportunity to foster understanding and bring people together. Anything else would send ripples of censorship across the country, negatively impacting countless communities and children who deserve a balanced education.”

A4TE also filed an amicus brief with the court.

“Today, A4TE filed an amicus brief on behalf of eight organizations with Muslim members and leaders, including Atlanta Unity Mosque, Al-Wāsi’ Collective, Desi Rainbow Parents & Allies, Hidaya LGBTQ US, Tarab NYC, Muslim Alliance for Sexual and Gender Diversity, Queer Crescent, and Queer Muslims of Boston surrounding the upcoming hearing on Mahmoud v. Taylor,” Lazarus Orr, A4TE’s press relations manager, said in a statement provided to The Advocate.

Orr said A4TE supports the district’s “decision to include LGBTQI+-affirming storybooks in its elementary school curriculum, acknowledging that the decision is a necessary step in promoting inclusive education and protecting the dignity and rights of LGBTQI+ people.”

A4TE argues in its brief that Islam teaches followers to “learn from gender and sexual diversity,” that “gender and sexual diversity has always been a part of Muslim communities,” and that “Muslims should respond to difference with curiosity, humility, and a firm commitment to justice.”

In the original petition asking for the Supreme Court to review the case, Tamer Mahmoud argues that the “Board’s own documents reveal that its goal in compelling children to participate in this instruction is to “disrupt” their ‘either/or thinking’ on gender and sexuality” and that the Board concedes that “children may ‘come away from [such] instruction with a new perspective not easily contravened by their parents.’”

The case is scheduled to go before the justices April 22.