Maryland school district rescinds opt-out policy for parents, pushes LGBTQ books as required reading

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Maryland parents are calling for a right for their kids to "opt-out" of school curriculum featuring LGBTQ characters in at Montgomery County schools.

Last year, the Montgomery County Public Schools district, the wealthiest district in the state, announced efforts to include an LGBTQ-inclusive reading list as part of its English language arts curriculum. However, parents have begun protesting and criticizing this decision as it became clearer which books were being approved.

"MCPS keeps painting these books as rainbow unicorn which they are not," Moms for Liberty Montgomery chapter president Lindsey Smith told Fox News Digital. She also described her three-year-old child reading a book called "Pride Puppy" while drag queens were illustrated in an alphabet book under "Q for Queen."

The Montgomery County Public Schools district announced a new LGBTQ-inclusive reading list in November. (Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

While several parents requested a policy to opt out of these books, a recently updated policy by the school board insisted that students will be required to "engage" with these materials. In addition, parents will no longer be required to be informed on which books will be included on the lists.

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"Students and families may not choose to opt out of engaging with any instructional materials, other than ‘Family Life and Human Sexuality Unit of Instruction' which is specifically permitted by Maryland law. As such, teachers will not send home letters to inform families when inclusive books are read in the future," the MCPS policy stated.

Despite the new policy, parents continue to push for choice on what books and curriculum their child should be exposed to at school.

"We asked them to just leave an opt out in place because it goes against a lot of family values; many have a lot of religious values it goes against," Smith told the Washington Post. "There’s a lot of parents that just think that their kids weren’t even mature enough to handle some of these readings and then have to explain some of these words."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Montgomery County Muslim Council also criticized the school district for violating their beliefs.

Parents are seeking a policy allowing them to opt their children out of certain books. (Getty Images)

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"We’re trying to be respectful of these groups and their rights, but at the same time, we’re saying our rights need to be represented based off of our belief systems," Montgomery County Muslim Council President Asif Husain said.

CAIR also penned a petition calling for restoration of the opt-out policy as well as parental notice for specific books.

"By introducing sexually-themed lessons and materials as part of the school curriculum without advance parental notice, an opt-out option or another reasonable religious accommodation, MCPS is violating the rights of parents and guardians, and undermining Maryland state law, which requires parents or guardians to have the option to remove their children from ‘Family Life and Human Sexuality’ content," the petition states. 

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Montgomery County Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment. 

Smith also reiterated that parents will continue to push for a new policy at upcoming board meetings.

Sexually graphic books and books pushing LGBTQ ideology have come under fire in public schools. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

"We just are parents who see the push to indoctrinate young kids on sexual identity and push this gender ideology on young kids, who just want to play dress up, play and learn. It’s not about academia, so why are we teaching it? Only 31% of our kids in the highest ‘academia’ county can pass math in the newest data released," Smith told Fox News Digital. "Many parents feel this has nothing to do with equity and inclusion because why aren’t other groups in their community represented?"