Two Christian parents filed a lawsuit this week against a California school district for denying them the right to opt their children out of instruction on sexuality and gender that interferes with their religious beliefs.
The parents are citing court precedent from a similar case and claiming that the district is violating their First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion.
Parents say ‘inappropriate’ instruction undermines their religious beliefs
Justin and Rose Taylor filed a lawsuit on June 22, arguing that the district’s refusal to allow them to opt their children out of LGBTQ+ instruction violates their First Amendment rights as listed in the Free Exercise Clause.
The Taylors are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Two of their four children, a third grade son and first grade daughter, attend Cumberland Elementary School in the Sunnyville School District.
The district says it implements an “inclusive” curriculum covering “LGBTQIA+ history, disability visibility, multilingual experiences, and culturally responsive instruction” to “ensure diverse representation remains integral to equity and inclusion efforts” according to a district press release.
Teachers in the district have been encouraged to integrate “diverse gender identities and expressions” in classroom instruction to “disrupt traditional definitions of the family,” according to court documents. This includes practices like reading storybooks celebrating pride-related topics, completing math problems that incorporate same-sex marriage, gender-neutral bathrooms and other LGBTQ topics and teaching that “women” don’t produce eggs, “ovaries” do.
The Taylors believe the curriculum is “age-inappropriate and inconsistent with their religious beliefs, practices, and child-raising philosophies” and will undermine the religious principles taught in their home. Court documents cite teachings of the Taylor’s faith.
When the Taylors became aware of the district’s LGBTQ+-related instruction, they asked the district to excuse their children from lessons and activities that conflict with the Taylors’ religious beliefs. The district initially cooperated by providing a form with opt-out options and instructing librarians not to check out material to Taylor children that contain LGBTQ+ elements.
Later, the plaintiffs said, the school district “reversed course” and denied the parents’ request for opt-outs and prior notice, stating that the LGBTQ+ instruction is “not optional and is not subject to parent opt-out provisions.”
Parents claim recent Supreme Court case shows precedent in their favor
The parents cited precedent from a recent case, Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which the Supreme Court held that a group of Catholic, Muslim and Ukrainian Orthodox parents had the right to opt their children out of LGBTQ+ lessons in their public schools. The curriculum discussed in Mahmoud v. Taylor includes some of the exact same “inclusivity storybooks” used by the Sunnyville district that promote pride parades, pronoun preferences for children and gender transitions.
The district said the Mahmoud v. Taylor ruling “addressed a specific set of facts in another state” and did not create general rights for parents to excuse their children from required curriculum.
Sunnyville School District leaders say they were ‘surprised’ by lawsuit
Paul Slayton, director of student services for the Sunnyvale School District, said the district “was surprised to learn that the Taylor family had filed a lawsuit, particularly given the positive and productive discussion that took place following the family’s initial concerns.”
“The district remains committed to supporting all students and maintaining constructive relationships with our families, and we will continue to approach this matter with professionalism and care,” Slayton told the Deseret News.
The plaintiffs are seeking monetary relief for compensatory and punitive damages. “Sunnyvale knows, and knew at all relevant times, that this is not legally permissible,” the plaintiffs argue.
The case, Taylor v. Sunnyvale School District, will be decided by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The Becket Fund is representing the Taylors as general counsel.