Religious parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, are rallying against new school rules that require their children be taught LGBTQ content.
Montgomery County Public Schools told parents March 23 that it would no longer be notifying parents about curricula dealing with gender identity and sexuality. The district had previously unveiled a list of LGBTQ-friendly books, including Pride Puppy, a book about a family celebrating Pride, and Uncle Bobby’s Wedding — a book about a same-sex wedding. (RELATED: Transgender Former State Rep Arrested For Child Sex Crimes Has History Of Arrests)
“My child, you know, he’s gonna be reading ‘My Rainbow’ next year [in second grade],” one parent told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “It’s a book about a transgender kid. He’s gonna be learning words like cisgender and transgender. That’s really heavy for his age. I wonder why aren’t they also learning about depression and suicide and addictions at this age then? It’s really heavy and I’m surprised.”
Muslim and Christian parents are uniting outside the Board of Education Tuesday to demand the school reverse its policy that doesn’t allow parents to opt their kids out of certain curricula. The parents say that earlier the board had told them they would be allowed to keep their kids from certain courses, WUSA9 reports.
Join us on June 27 to voice your support for religious freedom. pic.twitter.com/5LpoW1p8TH
— Coalition of Virtue (@CoalitionVirtue) June 19, 2023
“If an animal rights activist wants to opt their child out of biology class, he or she should be able to do that,” one parent told WUSA 9. “Same goes for Native Americans. If Native Americans don’t want to sit through a class talking about the great traits of Christopher Columbus, they should be able to opt out.”
Parents previously demonstrated against the policy on June 7, organized by Family Rights for Religious Freedom and Moms for Liberty.
The parents have filed a lawsuit against the district for the policy, alleging that “the County violated the Constitution, Maryland law, and its own policies.”
Montgomery County public Schools have reportedly seen a 582% increase in students identifying as gender nonconforming in the last two years. The data was collected from forms school counselors filled out when students approached them to talk about their gender identity.
Clinical experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the insertion of curricula involving “Critical Gender Theory” and graphic sexual content into schools, in addition to hiding such material from parents, matches the tactics child predators use to groom children.