Parents push back against Seattle district’s policy forbidding opt-outs from LGBTQ-related curriculum
A policy against letting parents opt out of LGBTQ-related curriculum at Seattle Public Schools (SPS) is raising concerns within the area community.
“It’s a dangerous policy,” Beth Daranciang, Moms for Liberty of King County Vice Chair, told KOMO News. “Our children are in danger because the Seattle school district is liable for pushing an anti-scientific ideology on children, which does not allow parents to opt out.”
Daranciang’s children graduated from SPS, which has published its policies over “LGBTQ-inclusive instruction” on its website.
“There is no option to ‘opt students out’ of learning about particular identities or groups of people,” the website reads. “Families do have the right to opt out of Comprehensive Sexual Health Education (CSHE) under state law. Instruction about LGBTQ identities provided for purposes such as bullying prevention, or safe and welcoming environments, is not part of CSHE and thus not subject to an opt-out provision.”
However, a recent ruling from the Supreme Court seemingly contradicts the school’s stance, ordering a Maryland school district to allow parental opt-out policies regarding books containing LGBTQ content.
“We have long recognized the rights of parents to direct ‘the religious upbringing’ of their children,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote. “And this is not merely a right to teach religion in the confines of one’s own home. Rather, it extends to the choices that parents wish to make for their children outside the home.”
‘Unmistakably normative’
In the court’s majority opinion, Alito noted the LGBTQ-related curriculum was “clearly designed to present certain values and beliefs as things to be celebrated and certain contrary values and beliefs as things to be rejected.”
For example, the books on same-sex marriage described it as “a perspective that should be celebrated,” teaching such practices as “unmistakably normative” to children, he argued.
“The Board is doubtless aware of the presence in Montgomery County of substantial religious communities whose members hold traditional views on marriage, sex, and gender,” Alito wrote. “When it comes to instruction that would burden the religious exercise of parents, the Board cannot escape its obligations under the Free Exercise Clause by crafting a curriculum that is so burdensome that a substantial number of parents elect to opt-out.”
The SPS policy specifies parents will not be allowed to opt out of instruction involving the definition of terms such as transgender or gender identity “for the purpose of increasing kindness” and will not receive prior notice.
It also notes this instruction “may occur at any grade with a focus on identity and respect.”
Seattle’s public schools have seen dwindling enrollment over the past few years, spurring talks of school closures in the fall of 2024.
However, the district ultimately backtracked from closing any schools after months of community protests.