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Sonia Sotomayor: LGBTQ+ book opt outs 'threaten the very essence of public education'

Sonia Sotomayor
Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sonia Sotomayor during a panel discussion at George Washington University on March 12, 2024, in Washington, DC.

"Exposing students to the 'message' that LGBTQ people exist, the majority says, is enough to trigger the most demanding form of judicial scrutiny," Sotomayor wrote.

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Justice Sonia Sotomayor has warned that Friday's Supreme Court ruling allowing parents in Maryland to opt their children out of lessons with LGBTQ+ books "threatens the very essence of public education."

The Court ruled 6-3 in the case of Mahmoud v. Taylor that not allowing opt-outs violates the parents' freedom of religion, with Justices Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting. Sotomayor sharply criticized the decision in her opinion, stating that it "constitutionalizes a parental veto power over curricular choices long left to the democratic process and local administrators."

"[Public schools] offer to children of all faiths and backgrounds an education and an opportunity to practice living in our multicultural society. That experience is critical to our Nation’s civic vitality," Sotomayor wrote. "Yet it will become a mere memory if children must be insulated from exposure to ideas and concepts that may conflict with their parents’ religious beliefs."

Parents from various religious faiths — Muslim, Roman Catholic, Ukrainian Orthodox, and others — sued Montgomery County Public Schools in 2023 after the district ended its policy allowing them to opt-out of lessons they objected to, including LGBTQ+ picture books. The district argued that allowing parents to opt their children out created concerns about absenteeism and social stigma against LGBTQ+ students and their families, while also putting them at risk of violating anti-discrimination laws.

The district also argued that students simply having access to information does not violate their parents' religious freedom, which Sotomayor concurred with in her dissent.

"Casting aside longstanding precedent, the Court invents a constitutional right to avoid exposure to 'subtle' themes 'contrary to the religious principles' that parents wish to instill in their children," she continued. "Exposing students to the 'message' that LGBTQ people exist, and that their loved ones may celebrate their marriages and life events, the majority says, is enough to trigger the most demanding form of judicial scrutiny."

Sotomayor also agreed with the district's argument that allowing opt outs for any lessons deemed controversial could affect any topic, resulting in "chaos for this Nation’s public schools." Requiring schools to provide advance notice and opt outs for every subject that might conflict with a parent’s religious beliefs "will impose impossible administrative burdens on schools," she said.

"That decision guts our free exercise precedent and strikes at the core premise of public schools: that children may come together to learn not the teachings of a particular faith, but a range of concepts and views that reflect our entire society," Sotomayor wrote. "Exposure to new ideas has always been a vital part of that project, until now. The reverberations of the Court’s error will be felt, I fear, for generations. Unable to condone that grave misjudgment, I dissent."

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Ryan Adamczeski

Ryan is a reporter at The Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel "Someone Else's Stars," and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics, and the IRE, the society of Investigative Reporters and Editors. Her first cover story, "Meet the young transgender teens changing America and the world," has been nominated for Outstanding Print Article at the 36th GLAAD Media Awards. In her free time, Ryan likes watching the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.
Ryan is a reporter at The Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel "Someone Else's Stars," and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics, and the IRE, the society of Investigative Reporters and Editors. Her first cover story, "Meet the young transgender teens changing America and the world," has been nominated for Outstanding Print Article at the 36th GLAAD Media Awards. In her free time, Ryan likes watching the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.