(HorizonPost.com) – Last week, a Maryland District Court judge refused to grant a temporary injunction allowing parents to opt their children out of LGBT-related lessons on religious grounds when the new school year began on August 28, saying that the families don’t have a “fundamental right” to disrupt education based on their religious faith, the New York Post reported.
In May, three religious families sued Montgomery County Public Schools seeking to reinstate a previous district policy allowing them to remove their children from LGBT-related lessons that “contradict their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
Last week, Judge Deborah L. Boardman denied the parents’ request for a temporary injunction when school started this week, stating that the parents failed to establish a due process right to ensure that their children’s education aligns with their religious practices as a “fundamental right.”
Boardman, a Biden appointee, claimed that “inclusive” lessons “foster social integration and cultural inclusiveness” for students who claim to be “gender nonconforming” or transgender.
Boardman wrote in her decision that the “no-opt-out policy” from Montgomery County Public Schools does not prevent parents from teaching children about their faith nor does it violate their religious faith or attempt to “change their religious beliefs.”
While the judge refused to grant an injunction, the case is far from over. The lawsuit will be heard in court before a final decision is made.
Becket Religious Liberty for All, the group representing the parents in Mahmoud v. McKnight, expressed disappointment in the judge’s decision.
Senior counsel Eric Baxter told the New York Post that parents have a fundamental right to raise and guide their children on sensitive and complex issues like sexuality and gender.
Baxter said the lessons recently introduced in Montgomery schools place premature focus on “romantic feelings,” and embrace transgender ideology while teaching children that a child’s gender at birth is a “doctor’s best ‘guess.'” He said the schools are teaching children to disregard their parents, doctors, and science “in favor of feelings.” Baxter said the parents are merely asking for their right to opt out of the lessons to be restored.
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