WASHINGTON (AP) – Prince Lassos A Dragon saves a shining knight from a certain death. However, the prince slips and when he falls, the knight and his horse return favor.
The two men then fall in love.
“Prince and Night” is one of five children’s books featuring LGBTQ characters, shaking the diverse suburban Maryland school districts. supreme court If the judiciary asks on Tuesday.
Montgomery County parents who oppose it on religious grounds want to attract their children from elementary school classes that use books.
The county’s school system has been rejected, and so far, lower courts have been I agree.
However, this result may differ in high courts ruled by conservative justice, which repeatedly upheld recent claims of religious discrimination.
Parents argue that public schools cannot force their children to participate in teaching that violates their faith. They pointed to the opt-out clause for sex education and note that the district originally allowed parents to pull their children when the picture book was being taught before the storybook suddenly turned around.
“It’s labelled as linguistic arts, you know, it’s a literacy program, but the content of the material is very sexual,” said Billy Moges, a board member of the parent group Kids, which was formed in response to the addition of books to the curriculum. “It teaches human sexuality, it confuses children, and parents are not comfortable having their children exposed to these things at such an early age.”
Dozens of parents testified at the school board hearing about their religious obligation to protect impressive young children from lessons about gender and sexuality that oppose their beliefs.
Morges said he has now pulled three daughters, 10, 8 and 6, as a result. They were initially homeschooled, but now they attend private Christian schools, she said.
The school system declined to comment, citing an ongoing lawsuit.
However, in court documents, the school’s lawyers write that the handful of storybooks are not sex education materials, but rather “telling the everyday stories of characters who are experiencing adventures, facing new emotions, and struggling to hear themselves.” The book touches on the same themes found in classic stories that include Snow White, Cinderella and Peter Pan, the lawyer wrote.
In “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding”, Nie worries that after getting married, she won’t have much time for her. His partner is a man. “Love, Violet” deals with the girl’s anxiety about giving Valentine’s Day to other girls. “Born Ready” tells the story of a transgender boy’s decision to share his gender identity with his family and the world. “Allies of the Crossing” describes nine letters from various backgrounds, including those that are gender fluids.
The book was chosen to “better represent all Montgomery County families,” and teachers “cannot use them to pressure students to change or change or deny,” the school’s attorney said.
The school system has waived the option of allowing parents to take their children out of lessons because it has become “destructive like cows” to do so, the lawyer told the court.
Author group Pen americaHe reported that more than 10,000 books were banned last year, saying in the court what his parents hoped was a “constitutionally questionable book ban under a different name.”
Taslin Magnuson, a senior advisor to the Freedom for Reading Programs in Penn America, said the difficulty of offering alternative lessons to some children whenever the book is used would likely force the county to pull books from the curriculum.
“I really hope people read these books. They are a lovely example of the experiences kids have in school, and they are completely amazing storybooks they have as part of their educational curriculum,” Magnuson said.
One book that was originally part of the curriculum and was pulled for reasons not explained later is My Rainbow, co-authored by Delaware Assemblyman Deshanna Neal and his daughter Trinity.
The story tells Trinity’s desire for long hair as a trans girl and her mother’s solution to knitting a rainbow wig.
Neil has become used to removing books from distribution in libraries, including Florida, Ohio and Texas.
“School is a place to learn why the world is different and how it is different,” Neil said. “I was listening to your kids that I wanted to come out of this book. They know their bodies.”
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