A New Lawsuit on School Gender Lessons
Yet Justin and Rose Taylor allege in a federal lawsuit that Sunnyvale School District, near San Jose, is denying them the same ability to opt out. The Taylors, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, have religious objections to material that their two elementary-age children might encounter.
According to the complaint filed last month, a county “teaching guide” says health and science lessons should “explicitly teach about gender identity and sexual orientation.” A sample fourth-grade history lesson on “Two Spirit and Non-Traditional Families” says students will explore how these identities “disrupt traditional definitions of the family.” Even math teachers are encouraged to “use problems that relate to marriage equality, gender-neutral bathrooms, and LGBTQ+ rights.”
The guide also links to a list of books, including some at issue in Mahmoud, such as “Born Ready” about a “boy named Penelope.” Yet the First Amendment guarantees “free exercise” of religion, and the High Court said this was violated when the Maryland district withheld opt outs for “LGBTQ+-inclusive” storybooks. Last year the Taylors asked to excuse their children from instruction using “‘LGBTQ+-inclusive’ storybooks or similar materials.”
In their telling, Sunnyvale at first suggested it could accommodate them, before refusing. According to the complaint, officials wrote that the Mahmoud ruling “addressed a specific set of facts in another state” and “does not override California’s statutory requirements governing instructional content.” Well, state law doesn’t override the Constitution.
