Ohio group asks U.S. Supreme Court to allow student opt-outs for LGBTQ+ lessons

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- A conservative Ohio group is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to allow parents to opt their elementary school children out of classroom lessons that include books with LGBTQ+ characters.

The Protect Ohio Children Coalition joined other similar groups from California, Colorado, Nebraska and Texas in writing an amicus brief in the case against a Maryland school district whose curriculum includes LGBTQ+ books. The brief argued in favor of opt-outs for parents wishing to remove their students from such lessons, citing an infringement of their religious beliefs.

"The parents have never maintained that the Pride storybooks, or other specified controversial texts, cannot be taught to other [district] students," the brief said. "The parents merely do not want their own children to be subjected to what they view as attempted indoctrination."

The Supreme Court is taking up the case after lower courts sided with the district, which said the books weren't part of "explicit instruction" on sexual orientation and gender identity, and "no student or adult is asked to change how they feel about these issues." Rather, the books were included as options within the district's reading list to represent "a range of cultural, racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds."

"Like all other books in the language-arts curriculum, these storybooks impart critical reading skills through engaging, age-appropriate stories," the district said in a filing to the Supreme Court.

LGBTQ+ books on the reading list included titles like "Uncle Bobby's Wedding," about a young girl struggling with her uncle's same-sex marriage, and "Pride Puppy," about attendees at a Pride march who band together to find a family's lost dog. The district said those on the list are "made available for individual reading, classroom read-aloud and other educational activities designed to foster and enhance literacy skills."

Judge G. Steven Agee of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the lower courts that agreed with the district, said the parents were not able to "connect the requisite dots" to show that their religious rights were violated given there isn't proof that a teacher has used the books in a manner that "coerces children into changing their religious views."

While the books "could be used in ways that would confuse or mislead children and, in particular, that discussions relating to their contents could be used to indoctrinate their children into espousing views that are contrary to their religious faith ... none of that is verified by the limited record that is before us," wrote Agee.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the case on April 22.

Protect Ohio Children Coalition's advocacy comes as the inclusion of LGBTQ+ themes in classrooms is being debated across Ohio, like in the case of a New Richmond teacher who is taking her district to court after she was suspended for having books in her class library with LGBTQ+ characters.

A Jackson Township school district said in January it will pay $450,000 to a middle school teacher who resigned for refusing to address two transgender students by their preferred names and pronouns after a court said forcing the teacher to use students' preferred names amounted to "compelled speech."

The coalition also supported Ohio's incoming "Parents' Bill of Rights" law, which includes a provision requiring schools to provide parents the opportunity to review instructional material that includes "sexuality content." A national crisis hotline said it received a significant increase in calls from LGBTQ+ youth in Ohio within hours after the measure was signed into law.