Tamer Mahmoud v Monifa B. McKnight
Civ. No. DLB-23-1380

Case Start Date: May 24, 2023
Deciding Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
Original Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

The parents have moved for a preliminary injunction that requires the School Board to give them advance notice and an opportunity to opt their children out of classroom instruction that involves the storybooks or relates to family life and human sexuality. ECF 23. The motion is fully briefed. ECF 42, 43, 47. The parties have filed supplements in support of their positions. ECF 48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 55, 57. The Court held a hearing on the motion on August 9, 2023. ECF 50. For the following reasons, the motion is denied.

CASE SNAPSHOT

Parents in Maryland are fighting back against the Montgomery County Board of Education for forcing pre-K and elementary-aged children to read controversial books that promote a one-sided transgender ideology, encourage gender transitioning, and focus excessively on romance—with no parental notification or opportunity to opt out. Parents from a variety of faiths— including Islam, Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity—are united in seeking to guarantee their children an age-appropriate education that is consistent with their faith and sound science. These parents are simply asking to be notified when the books will be read to their children and to be given an opportunity to opt out. By denying these longstanding arrangements, the Board is violating the parents’ inalienable and constitutionally protected right to control the religious upbringing of their children, especially on sensitive issues concerning family life and human sexuality.

STATUS

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In this lawsuit, parents whose elementary-aged children attend Montgomery County Public Schools (“MCPS”) seek the ability to opt their children out of reading and 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. Last school year, MCPS incorporated into its English language arts curriculum a collection of storybooks featuring LGBTQ characters (the “storybooks” or “books”) in an effort to reflect the diversity of the school community. Initially, parents could opt their children out of reading and instruction involving the books, as they could with other parts of the curriculum. In March of this year, the defendants—the Montgomery County Board of Education, the MCPS superintendent, and the elected board members (collectively, the “School Board”)—announced that parents no longer would receive advance notice of when the storybooks would be read or be able to opt their children out. Following the announcement, three families of diverse faiths filed suit against the School Board, claiming 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.

The parents have moved for a preliminary injunction that requires the School Board to give them advance notice and an opportunity to opt their children out of classroom instruction that involves the storybooks or relates to family life and human sexuality. ECF 23. The motion is fully briefed. ECF 42, 43, 47. The parties have filed supplements in support of their positions. ECF 48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 55, 57. The Court held a hearing on the motion on August 9, 2023. ECF 50. For the following reasons, the motion is denied.

See full Decision on the Motion: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/maryland/mddce/8:2023cv01380/537103/59/

BACKGROUND

On May 24, 2023, The Becket Fund For Religious Liberty filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Maryland to protect parents’ right to opt their children out of school activities that infringe on their right to direct their children’s upbringing on sensitive religious matters. The district court heard oral arguments on August 9, 2023.

See also:

‘Not a Fundamental Right’: Maryland Court Strikes Down Parents’ Request to Opt Kids Out of LGBT Curriculum
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/not-a-fundamental-right-maryland-court-strikes-down-parents-request-to-opt-kids-out-of-lgbt-curriculum/ar-AA1fJInd
By HALEY STRACK, August 24, 2023

A Maryland district court denied parents’ appeal to reinstate an opt-out policy in Montgomery County Public Schools on Thursday.

The case, Tamer Mahmoud v. Monica B. McKnight, hinged on whether the district’s May decision to rescind its opt-out policy for LGBT curricula violated parents’ right to direct the religious instruction of their children.

The court concluded that, “the plaintiffs’ asserted due process right to direct their children’s upbringing by opting out of a public-school curriculum that conflicts with their religious views is not a fundamental right.”

Parents sought a preliminary injunction that would authorize opt-out options once school begins on August 28, which judge Deborah Boardman also denied:

“Because the plaintiffs have not established any of their claims is likely to succeed on the merits, the Court need not address the remaining preliminary injunction factors. Nonetheless, because a constitutional violation is not likely or imminent, it follows that the plaintiffs are not likely to suffer imminent irreparable harm, and the balance of the equities and the public interest favor denying an injunction to avoid undermining the School Board’s legitimate interests in the no-opt-out policy . . . The plaintiffs seek the same relief pending appeal as in their preliminary injunction motion: an injunction that requires the Board to provide advance notice and opt-outs from instruction involving the storybooks and family life and human sexuality. For the reasons stated in this opinion, the Court cannot conclude the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of an appeal. The plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction pending appeal is denied.”

Parents could opt their children out of gender and sexuality lessons until March, when the district banned the option. With Becket Law, religious families filed a lawsuit against the district in May, claiming the policy violates their First Amendment right to guide the religious instruction of their children.

Becket senior counsel, Eric Baxter said that the school board “should let kids be kids and let parents parent.”

“Today, the district court decided parents have no right to notice when extreme ideology is pushed on their elementary-age children during story hour,” Baxter tweeted. “With the new school year beginning, the case is on the fast track to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals—and the parents plan to appeal the decision.”

“Children are entitled to enjoy a period of innocence and be guided by their own parents on how and when to approach the complex and sensitive issues being pushed by the School Board,” he added.

The district’s LGBTQ curricula introduces pre-K through eighth grade students to “inclusivity” books that contain references to gay pride parades, gender transition, and pronoun preference. Teachers are instructed to lead classroom discussions about the books, which cite terms such as, “intersex,” “drag queen,” and “non-binary.” One book claims that doctors only “guess” when determining a newborn’s sex.

Mahmoud v McNight
https://www.becketlaw.org/case/mahmoud-v-mcknight/

See also:

Maryland School District Charges Parents Concerned about LGBT Curriculum $18K for Public Records
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/maryland-school-district-charges-parents-concerned-about-lgbt-curriculum-18k-for-public-records/


Betsy Combier, Editor

betsy@advocatz.com

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