The Montgomery County School District in Maryland is forcing children to study LGBTQ books as required reading, and removing parents’ rights to opt their kids out, according to a report by Fox News.
The report notes that the district has decided to adopt the “LGBTQ-inclusive reading list” as a mandatory part of its English language arts curriculum.
“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,” the report states, adding that “parents will no longer be required to be informed on which books will be included on the lists.”
The policy states “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.”
Conservative group Moms for Liberty Montgomery chapter president Lindsey Smith commented that “MCPS keeps painting these books as rainbow unicorn which they are not.”
Smith told reporters that her three-year-old child was assigned a book called “Pride Puppy” along with a book teaching the alphabet containing images of men in drag under “Q for Queen.”
Smith described the move by the school as part of a wider agenda to “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?” Smith continued, adding “Only 31 percent of our kids in the highest ‘academia’ county can pass math in the newest data released.”
“Many parents feel this has nothing to do with equity and inclusion because why aren’t other groups in their community represented?” she added.
The report also notes that alongside conservative Christians, The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Montgomery County Muslim Council are also opposing the move by the school.
A petition launched by CAIR states that “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.”
“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 also commented.
As we have exhaustively covered, the kind of books schools are including in libraries under the guise of LGBTQ and diversity drives often contain graphic sexual images and descriptions bordering on pornography and even pedophilia.
In several instances parents have been forced to read the books to school officials at public meetings in protest, often revealing the fact that the officials have no idea about the content the books contain.
Article: Report: School District In Maryland Makes LGBTQ Books Mandatory Reading