The Supreme Court on Friday took up its second religious freedom case of the current term, agreeing to hear a battle over the use of books on LGBTQ issues in public schools.
The case, called Mahmoud v. Taylor, was brought by parents from a variety of religious backgrounds after they realized that their Maryland school district was not keeping them updated about classroom discussions on sensitive topics like gender identity.
The parents argued that by not giving them a chance to opt their kids out of the discussions, the school district was violating the First Amendment’s free exercise clause.
District officials, on the other hand, said the lessons on LGBTQ issues did not implicate religious liberty rights.
The parents lost in front of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said the school district did not need to allow religious families to opt out.
They then appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the justices needed to clarify how religious freedom law applies to the public school setting.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists were among the faith groups that called on the Supreme Court to take up the case.
In their own Supreme Court brief, which was filed ahead of Friday’s announcement, school officials argued that the 4th Circuit’s ruling should stand.
“Petitioners seek to unsettle a decades-old consensus that parents who choose to send their children to public school are not deprived of their right to freely exercise their religion simply because their children are exposed to curricular materials the parents find offensive,” officials said.
The justices are expected to hear Mahmoud v. Taylor sometime this spring.
The case will likely spark debates about not just the Supreme Court’s approach to religious freedom, but also its precedent on parental rights.