Washington – The Supreme Court strengthened religious rights on Friday when he directed in favor of parents who opposed books on the theme of the LGBTQ that a county of Maryland approved for use in the classrooms of elementary schools.
During a 6-3 vote, the court supported the affirmation of the parents according to which the decision of the Montgomery County Board of Education not to authorize the deactivation of their children violated their religious rights under the first amendment of the Constitution, which protects the religious expression.
“The introduction by the Council of Books of Tales” LGBTQ + inclusive “, as well as its decision to retain opt-outs, impose an unconstitutional burden on the rights of parents on the free exercise of their religion,” wrote Samuel Alito judge for the Court.
The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority which is often receptive to religious affirmations. Liberal judges dissident.
“The result will be chaos for the public schools of this nation,” wrote Liberal judge Sonia Sotomayor in a dissident opinion.
“Given the great diversity of religious beliefs in this country, countless interactions that occur every day in public schools could expose children to messages that conflict with parents’ beliefs,” she added.
The dispute occurred in 2022 when the School Board of the various county just outside Washington revised its program of studies in the English language.
The Board of Directors determined that he wanted more stories to have LGBTQ elements to better reflect some of the families who live in the region.
Approved books include “Uncle Bobby’s marriage”, who presents a gay character who gets married and “Born Ready”, on a transgender child who wants to identify as a boy.
The School Board said that although books are in classrooms and available so that children can pick up, teachers are not required to use them in class.
Initially, the school board said that the parents would be able to withdraw their children by exposure to books, but that has quickly changed course, which suggests that it would be too difficult to implement.
The applicants include Tamer Mahmoud and Enas Barakat, a Muslim couple who have a son in primary school. Members of the Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox Churches also continued, as is a parent group called Kids First who has members of various confessions.
They said they had the right to protect their children from the content that is in conflict with their religious beliefs by expressing their support for homosexual relations and transgender rights.
The Trump administration supported the challengers.
A federal judge and the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Virginia, both ruled in favor of the school board.
The Supreme Court has in the past religious rights supported in cases involving contradictory arguments put forward by the defenders of LGBTQ rights. In a recent decision, the Court in 2023 ruled in favor a designer of Christian websites who refused to work on same -sex weddings.
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