Mahmoud v. Taylor

In November 2022, the Montgomery County Board of Education in Maryland approved several LGBTQ-inclusive children's books as supplemental curriculum for its language arts program.{{cite web |date=January 17, 2025 |title=Supreme Court takes up parents' bid to opt out of LGBTQ content at elementary schools |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-takes-parents-bid-opt-lgbt-content-elementary-schools-rcna188205 |website=NBC News}} One book was added for each year from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) teachers were not required to use any of the new materials.{{Cite web |last=Espey |first=Em |date=2022-12-14 |title=MCPS adds six new LGBTQ+ elementary school books to promote inclusion |url=https://bethesdamagazine.com/2022/12/14/mcps-six-new-lgbtq-elementary-school-books-met-with-overwhelming-community-support/ |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=Bethesda Magazine |language=en-US}}

At first, the schools notified parents before the books would be used, and accommodated requests to have their children excused; then, in March 2023, the school district changed the policy, no longer allowing opt-outs "for any reason".{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-maryland-parents-lgbtq-books/ |title=Supreme Court takes up Maryland parents' bid to opt kids out of lessons with LGBTQ books |website=CBS News |date=January 17, 2025}} Lawyers for the school system said the "growing number of opt-out requests gave rise to three related concerns: high student absenteeism, the infeasibility of administering opt-outs across classrooms and schools, and the risk of exposing students who believe the storybooks represent them and their families to social stigma and isolation." MCPS said it decided to stop the opt-outs because it was receiving too many requests not based on religion.{{Cite web |date=2025-04-21 |title=Supreme Court considers parents' efforts to exempt children from books with LGBTQ themes |url=https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/04/supreme-court-considers-parents-efforts-to-exempt-children-from-books-with-lgbtq-themes/ |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=SCOTUSblog |language=en-US}}

A group of parents sued Montgomery County's school board and Superintendent Thomas Taylor.{{Cite web |last=Griffith |first=Kristen |date=2025-04-22 |title=Supreme Court to hear Maryland school district case: What to know |url=https://www.thebaltimorebanner.com/education/k-12-schools/supreme-court-montgomery-county-books-I2ESFPSYFRGLHHJANPKBFL74SQ/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=The Baltimore Banner |language=en}} The lead plaintiffs, Tamer Mahmoud and Enas Barakat, were Muslim and had a son in elementary school. They removed their son from public school after the federal district court sided with Montgomery County in August 2023.{{cite web |date=January 17, 2025 |title=Justices agree to hear Maryland case on parents' rights and LGBTQ books |url=https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/5092723-supreme-court-review-lgbtq-book-case/amp/ |website=The Hill}} Additional plaintiffs were Chris and Melissa Persak, who were Roman Catholic and had two elementary-age children, Jeff and Svitlana Roman, who were Roman Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox and had an elementary-age son, and parents-rights group "Kids First".

The books added to the MCPS supplementary curriculum were:{{Cite web |last=Chasmar |first=Jessica |date=2022-11-14 |title=Maryland school district unveils LGBTQ book list that teaches words 'intersex,' 'drag queen' to pre-K students |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/maryland-school-district-unveils-lgbtq-book-list-teaches-words-intersex-drag-queen-pre-k-students |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=Fox News |language=en-US}}

• Pre-K: Pride Puppy by Robin Stevenson
• Kindergarten: Uncle Bobby's Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen
• 1st grade: IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All by Carolyn Choi and Chelsea Johnson
• 2nd grade: My Rainbow by DeShanna Neal and Trinity Neal
• 3rd grade: Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack
• 4th grade: Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild
• 5th grade: Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope by Jodie Patterson

In February 2024 MCPS removed Pride Puppy and My Rainbow from approved curriculum, although the books remained available in school libraries. A spokeswoman told The Washington Post that the schools removed the books through their own review process and not due to parental requests.{{Cite news |last=Asbury |first=Nicole |date=2024-10-23 |title=Montgomery schools stopped using two LGBTQ-inclusive books amid legal battle |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/10/23/montgomery-schools-opt-out-storybooks/ |access-date=2025-04-21 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}

The plaintiffs rely on the precedent Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972), in which the Court ruled that Amish families could not be forced to send their children to school after the eighth grade. The parents argue that if the First Amendment protects dropping out, it must also cover the narrower request of parents who wish to remove to their children from "discrete instruction that deliberately seeks to confound their religious values".{{Cite web |last=The Editorial Board |title=Gender Storytime at the Supreme Court |url=https://www.wsj.com/opinion/gender-storytime-at-the-supreme-court-first-amendment-parental-rights-opt-out-04a15281 |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}} The parents sought to be notified when their children would receive "instruction on gender and sexuality in violation of their parents’ religious beliefs" and the opportunity to opt their children out of the instruction.{{Cite web |last=Millhiser |first=Ian |date=2025-04-15 |title=The Supreme Court threatens to bring "Don't Say Gay" to every classroom in America |url=https://www.vox.com/scotus/408356/supreme-court-mahmoud-taylor-dont-say-gay |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=Vox |language=en-US}} The lawsuit did not challenge the adoption of the books in the curriculum or ability of teachers to read the books to other students.

In Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Ass'n (1988), the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution’s Free Exercise Clause in the First Amendment prohibits government actions that tend "to coerce individuals into acting contrary to their religious beliefs." MCPS argues that a family's choice to send their children to public school demonstrates that they "are not cognizably coerced by virtue of their children’s exposure there to religiously objectionable ideas." Their lawyers also argue that requiring schools to allow opt-outs would have broad impacts, such as requiring public schools to grant religious exemptions from books depicting interfaith or multiracial families or lessons about historical figures who happen to be gay.{{Cite news |last=Marimow |first=Ann E. |date=2025-04-20 |title=Supreme Court to hear religious freedom case involving LGBTQ+ storybooks |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/20/supreme-court-religious-rights-lgbtq-books/ |access-date=2025-04-22 |newspaper=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}

A federal judge ruled against a request for a preliminary injunction to temporarily require notice and opportunity to opt out.Mahmoud v. McKnight, 688 F. Supp. 3d [https://casetext.com/case/mahmoud-v-mcknight 265] (D. Md. 2023) A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed in a 2-1 ruling, finding that the record lacked evidence that the schools compelled families to change or violate their religious beliefs.Mahmoud v. McKnight, 102 F.4th [https://cases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca4/23-1890/23-1890-2024-05-15.pdf 191] (4th Cir. 2024){{Cite news |last=Liptak |first=Adam |date=2025-04-21 |title=Supreme Court to Weigh Use of L.G.B.T.Q. Children's Books in Schools |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/us/politics/supreme-court-childrens-books-gay-trans.html |access-date=2025-04-22 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} In the majority opinion, Judge G. Steven Agee stated "simply hearing about other views does not necessarily exert pressure to believe or act differently than one’s religious faith requires." The parents petitioned to the Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case.

Oral arguments were heard on April 22, 2025. Court observers said the conservative majority seemed ready to back the parents and require schools to provide opt-outs to protect religious freedom, while the liberal justices raised questions of how far would such opt-outs extend to if the court ruled in favor of the parents.{{cite web | url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/22/politics/supreme-court-conservatives-lgbtq-books-arguments/index.html | title=Supreme Court's conservatives are poised to strike down elementary school policy denying opt-outs for LGBTQ+ books | CNN Politics | website=CNN | date=22 April 2025 }}

Some legal experts expressed concern that a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, while not technically a ban on teachers reading LGBT books, could amount to a ban nonetheless. Ian Millhiser compared a ruling in favor of the plaintiff's to a national "Don't Say Gay" law as "every public school would have to provide advance notice to any parent about any lesson that might offend that parent's religious views. But, in a nation as religiously diverse as the United States, it is simply not possible for public schools to comply with such an obligation." Millhiser further stated that even teachings about Mahatma Gandhi, the concept of death, or literary works of fantasy like the Harry Potter series could also be affected.{{Cite news |last=Millhiser |first= Ian |date=2025-04-15 |title=The Supreme Court threatens to bring "Don't Say Gay" to every classroom in America |url=https://www.vox.com/scotus/408356/supreme-court-mahmoud-taylor-dont-say-gay |access-date=2025-05-02 |work=Vox Media |language=en-US }}

• [https://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts/2024/24-297_p8k0.pdf Transcript of oral arguments]

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