Supreme Court rules 6-3 that parents can opt children out of LGBTQ lessons

On Jun. 27, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that public schools must allow parents to opt their children out of lessons featuring LGBTQ-themed books.

Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion relied on the Free Exercise Clause and applied a test asking whether a policy poses “a very real threat of undermining” parents’ religious beliefs.

Montgomery County Public Schools initially permitted opt-outs for LGBTQ content but later eliminated the policy because accommodating continuous removal from English classes became too administratively burdensome and disruptive.

The Supreme Court’s decision creates binding precedent nationwide, requiring all public school districts to accommodate religious opt-out requests for curriculum content claimed to burden religious exercise.

Parents in the case represented diverse faiths—Muslim (TMTamer Mahmoud and Enas Barakat), Roman Catholic (Melissa and Chris Persak), and Ukrainian Orthodox (Svitlana and Jeff Roman)—demonstrating that objections crossed multiple religious traditions.

JSJustice Sonia Sotomayor dissented, warning that fragmenting the curriculum based on religious objections undermines equal educational opportunities and risks creating a two-tiered public education system.

The ruling does not specify what alternative instruction or activities must be provided for students who are removed from classes, leaving implementation details to local districts.