In a win for parents’ rights and religious freedom, the United States Supreme Court ruled on, June 27, 2025, in Mahmoud v. Taylor, that parents have the right to opt-out their children from LGBTQ+ curriculum in public schools. This ruling rightly affirms parents’ First Amendment right to raise their children according to their own religion without interference from the government or the education system.
Background
In 2022, the Montgomery County Board of Education in Maryland chose to implement “LGBTQ+-inclusive” books into their curriculum. Teachers were instructed to incorporate these books into their lessons and were encouraged to facilitate discussions around the topics of transgenderism and same-sex relationships. At first, parents were given notice when these materials were included in lessons and were given the option to remove their children from class on those days and times. This option was consistent with the Board’s broad diversity policy which was implemented in response to the varying ethnic and religious backgrounds of their students.
Justice Samuel Alito points out in his opinion that Montgomery County, “in addition to hosting a diverse mix of Christian denominations, the county ranks in the top five in the Nation in per-capita population of Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists.” (606 U.S. 2 2025) Since Montgomery County is home to varying religious sects, their diversity policy claims a commitment to providing “reasonable accommodations” for students whose religious convictions prevent them from participating in various school activities. When it came to LGBTQ+ instruction, however, the Board ceased to honor the religious beliefs of both students and parents in the name of inclusivity.
Later in the 2022-2023 school year, the Board rescinded the opt-out accommodation. When parents expressed their frustration and disapproval of the curriculum, board members reprimanded parents and refused to consider their complaints. This response left parents with little choice other than to appeal to the Maryland District Court, where their request for a preliminary injunction was denied, and then appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which affirmed Maryland’s decision.
Earlier this year, there was a public hearing on a bill in Wisconsin that would require parental notification and sign-off for school officials to call a student by pronouns that did not match their biological gender. LGBTQ+ activists who testified against the bill lauded the Montgomery County Board of Education’s policy as a model policy that Wisconsin should look at adopting.
United States Supreme Court
With First Amendment considerations at the forefront, the United States Supreme Court agreed to review the case in 2024. In a win for religious freedom, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that parents have the right to refuse instruction for their children that they believe violates their religious beliefs. The Court agreed with petitioners in their appeal to a prior precedent established in Wisconsin v. Yoder.
Wisconsin v. Yoder
In Wisconsin v. Yoder, the Court decided that parents have the right to direct the “religious upbringing of their children.” Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972) The case was brought to the US Supreme Court by members of the Amish faith who requested an exemption from Wisconsin’s compulsory school attendance law. This law requires children to attend high school until age 16. The parents in this case believed and proved that sending their children to high school would infringe on their religious beliefs and practices.
The Supreme Court recognized that the State’s interest in education cannot infringe on the fundamental rights granted within the Constitution. The enforcement of the Wisconsin law in these circumstances infringed on the rights granted in the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. This case set an important precedent for future cases on religious freedom and was used extensively by petitioners in their appeal to the Supreme Court in Mahmoud v. Taylor.
Religious Freedom and Parents' Rights Protected
Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, concludes his opinion with a firm declaration that “[t]he Board’s introduction of the ‘LGBTQ+-inclusive’ storybooks, along with its decision to withhold opt outs, places an unconstitutional burden on the parents’ rights to the free exercise of their religion.” 606 U.S. 40 (2025)
Parents have the right to know what their children are learning in school and have a voice in their children’s education. Indoctrination in the classroom against the direction of parents is an abuse of the First Amendment. In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas holds the Board accountable for these First Amendment abuses:
“The Board may not insulate itself from First Amendment liability by ‘weav[ing] religiously offensive material throughout its curriculum and thereby significantly increase the difficulty and complexity of remedying parents’ constitutional injuries…. Were it otherwise, the State could nullify parents’ First Amendment rights simply by saturating public schools’ core curricula with material that undermines ‘family decisions in the area of religious training.’” 606 U.S. 12-13 (2025)
Children do not belong to the state; they belong to their parents. The Supreme Court’s decision in this case affirms this truth. The First Amendment protects the right of every American to raise their children according to their own religious beliefs without interference from public education or the government. In this case, the Supreme Court recognizes that parents have the fundamental right, protected under the First Amendment, to exempt their children from curriculum and teaching that violates their religious beliefs.
Wisconsin Family Action President, Daniel Degner, notes, “This case is momentous for our families as it protects their religious freedom as well as guards their children from harmful transgender ideology being promoted in classrooms. This marks a win for families as woke school districts around Wisconsin can no longer violate the religious liberty of families by forcing their children to be indoctrinated by curricula designed to advance the LGBTQ+ political agenda.”
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