WASHINGTON – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.), along with over 60 House and Senate Republicans, filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Mahmoud v. Taylor. The brief supports parents’ constitutional right to be notified of, and opt their children out of, a school’s teaching of radical gender ideology that violates their religious beliefs.
“For too long, radical voices have been silencing parents and pushing their beliefs on our children. This amicus brief stands with parents and their right to oversee their own children’s education. It reaffirms that families can raise their kids in accordance with their religious beliefs, as protected by the Constitution,” Grassley said.
“Requiring children to be taught gender and sexuality subject matter that violates their family’s religious beliefs is unconstitutional,” Cassidy said. “Parents have the right to know what their child is learning in school. I am proud to co-lead this amicus brief defending parents’ constitutional right to raise their child in the manner they choose.”
In the Senate, the brief was joined by Sens. Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Ashley Moody (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) and Jim Banks (R-Ind.).
In the House, the brief was led by Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (R-Ala.), Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies. The brief was also joined by Reps. Steve Scalise (R-La.), Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), Lance Gooden (R-Texas), Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Andy Harris (R-Md.), Jake Ellzey (R-Texas), Michael Rulli (R-Ohio), Jodey Arrington (R-Texas), Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), Mark Green (R-Tenn.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Keith Self (R-Texas), Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.), Clay Higgins (R-La.), Bob Onder (R-Mo.), Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.), Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.), Mark Messmer (R-Ind.), David Rouzer (R-N.C.), John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), Pat Harrigan (R-N.C.), John McGuire (R-Va.), Adrian Smith (R-Neb.), Harriet Hageman (R-Wy.), Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.), Chris Smith (R-N.J.), Rick Allen (R-Ga.), Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), Brian Babin (R-Texas), Troy Downing (R-Mont.), Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Penn.), Michael Cloud (R-Texas), Sheri Biggs (R-S.C.), Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), John Rose (R-Tenn.), Riley Moore (R-W.Va.), Michael Guest (R-Miss), Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), Derek Schmidt (R-Kan.), Brandon Gill (R-Texas), Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.).
Background:
In November 2022, the Montgomery County Maryland School Board introduced over 20 new books into pre-K through eighth-grade classrooms focused on gender identity and sexuality. Parents were initially told that they would be informed when these books would be read in the classroom and that they would have the opportunity to opt their children out.
However, in March 2023, the school board rescinded the parental notification policy, stating it would no longer notify parents or honor requests to opt-out.
The amicus brief argues that this policy violates parents’ constitutional right to control the religious upbringing of their children on such sensitive matters as those surrounding gender and sexuality. Specifically, the brief argues that the school board’s policy is not required by federal antidiscrimination law and lacks a compelling governmental justification to violate the parents’ First Amendment religious freedom rights.
It also argues that decades of federal statutes passed by Congress affirm parental rights in education and support the plaintiffs’ arguments that they must be given notice and an opportunity to opt their children out of learning such material.
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