Parents Allowed To Opt Out Of School Lessons Using LGBTQ Books

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/27/2025) Maryland parents who have religious objections to LGBTQ storybooks can opt out of those lesson plans for their children, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Sen. Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) applauded the court’s ruling, calling it a “major victory for conservative values and parental rights.”

“This decision confirms that it is parents, and not the far left, who should decide what’s appropriate for their children,” Runestad said. “This ruling is a step toward restoring parental rights in America — rights that have been eroded by far-left extremists seeking to silence parents.

“With Michigan’s reading and math scores continuing to slide toward the bottom nationally, this ruling is a stark reminder that our focus should be on the ABCs and not DEI, he added. “This is a battle for our children’s future — and today is a major victory for parents everywhere.”

The 6-3 opinion along ideological lines from Justice Samuel Alito Jr. reverses a lower court’s ruling favoring the Montgomery County school system.

“A government burdens the religious exercise of parents when it requires them to submit their children to instruction that poses ‘a very real threat of undermining’ the religious beliefs and practices that the parents wish to instill,” Alito wrote. “And a government cannot condition the benefit of free public education on parents’ acceptance of such instruction.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, noting that the “reverberations of the Court’s error will be felt, I fear, for generations.”

A group of parents who are Muslim, Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox want to be able to opt their children out from instruction involving LGBTQ-themed storybooks.

The school board initially allowed parents to excuse their children from instruction, but less than a year later, rescinded the parental opt-out policy.