Supreme Court should reject Christian Nationalist attempt to strike 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 the U.S. Supreme Court hearing oral argument today in the Mahmoud v. Taylor case:

“This case is an underhanded attempt to strike books and classroom lessons that don’t align with Christian Nationalist views from local public school districts. A handful of vocal parents with anti-LGBTQ+ religious beliefs do not get to dictate what appears in public school classrooms and libraries. This case is part of a broader Christian Nationalist agenda to impose a narrow set of religious beliefs on America’s schoolchildren. We urge the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Becket Fund’s scheme to undermine public education and church-state separation.”

AU’s brief: Inclusion of LGBTQ+ books, characters 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 educate students about 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 does not pressure or coerce schoolchildren to do anything that violates their families’ religious beliefs.

Rather, the brief notes that it would harm religious freedom if the U.S. Supreme Court accepts the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s rationale and requires public schools to implement an infeasible opt-out system for parents with religious objections to elements of the curriculum. School administrators will be more likely to remove any lessons, books or materials that could be challenged, resulting in public school curricula structured around the religious beliefs of some parents at the expense of others – especially for families from minority religions or who are nonreligious.

Religious organizations agree, join AU’s brief

Organizations joining Americans United’s brief include Alliance of Baptists; Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice; Central Atlantic Conference United Church of Christ; Global Justice Institute; Hindu American Foundation; Methodist Federation for Social Action; Muslims for Progressive Values; National Council of Jewish Women; Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association; Sikh Coalition; and Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding.

The brief’s authors include, at Americans United, Litigation Counsel Jenny Samuels and Alexandra Zaretsky and Associate Vice President and Associate Legal Director Alex J. Luchenitser.