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The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that schools can refuse to allow parents to opt students out of LGBT-themed lessons. The court’s ruling demonstrates how far America is from our founding principles and understanding of truth. The court created a new standard with its ruling, which we must pray will be overruled.

From The Epoch Times. A federal appeals court in Richmond on Wednesday rejected efforts by a group of Maryland parents to allow their elementary school children to opt out of lessons involving LGBT-themed books.

Who is praying on the wall?

In its ruling, the 2-1 panel of the Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the parents had failed to demonstrate how the Montgomery County Board of Education’s book policy would infringe anyone’s rights to freely exercise religion.

“There’s no evidence at present that the board’s decision not to permit opt-outs compels the parents or their children to change their religious beliefs or conduct, either at school or elsewhere,” U.S. Circuit Judge Steven Agee, who was appointed under President George W. Bush, wrote in the majority opinion. …

Wednesday’s ruling affirmed a lower court decision issued by U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman denying a preliminary injunction on the matter in August last year.

Both rulings came after parents of multiple faiths—including Muslim, Jewish, and Christian—filed a lawsuit against the Montgomery County Board of Education in May 2023 arguing that its refusal to provide notice and an opportunity to opt-out from their children’s exposure to certain books and related discussions violates federal and state law. …

Books ‘Contradict Sincerely Held Religious Beliefs’

Books in the series included “Pride Puppy!” by Robin Stevenson about a dog who gets lost during a pride parade, and “Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope,” by Jodie Patterson about her transgender son’s experience.

While the school board initially gave parents the chance to opt their children out of being exposed to the books, beginning with the current school year, it scrapped the opt-out option.

The parents, along with parents’ rights organization Kids First, subsequently argued in court that they should be able to opt their children out of the discussion of books with “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer characters” because the books’ messages “contradict their sincerely held religious beliefs about marriage, human sexuality, and gender.”

The families of diverse faiths further claimed that the no-opt-out policy violates their and their children’s free exercise and free speech rights under the First Amendment, the parents’ substantive due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, and Maryland law. …

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(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Photo Credit: National Cancer Institute on Unsplash)