AU denounces SCOTUS decision on striking LGBTQ+ books from public schools 

Americans United for Separation of Church and State President and CEO Rachel Laser issued the following statement in response to today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Mahmoud v. Taylor case, which involved parents who wanted to opt out their children from reading LGBTQ+ books in public school:

SCOTUS decision advances Christian Nationalism in public schools

“The U.S. Supreme Court’s ultra-conservative justices yet again are undermining church-state separation to advance Christian Nationalism in our public schools. The court is allowing a handful of vocal parents with anti-LGBTQ+ religious beliefs to dictate what is taught in public school classrooms – a violation of other students’ and families’ religious freedom.

“Rather than implement an unworkable system of opt-outs to certain books or lessons, public schools are more likely to strike content from the curriculum that could be challenged – which is the ultimate goal of the Christian Nationalists backing this case. What’s next? Objecting to books featuring single moms? Demanding opt-outs from students learning about evolution? Objecting to LGBTQ+ teachers present in the classroom? LGBTQ+ students? We need a national recommitment to church-state separation; our public schools and our democracy depend on it.”

AU brief explained reading LGBTQ+ books does not violate religious freedom

Americans United was joined by 11 religious and civil rights organizations in an amicus brief that urged the Supreme Court to affirm that it is not a religious freedom violation for a public school district to expose students to secular concepts that may not align with their families’ religious beliefs. The brief explained that the inclusion of books with LGBTQ+ characters in a large Maryland school district’s language arts curriculum did not pressure or coerce schoolchildren to do anything that violates their families’ religious beliefs.