Appeals Court Rejects Maryland Parents’ Bid to Allow Kids to Opt Out of Reading LGBT-Themed Books

A federal appeals court in Richmond on Wednesday rejected efforts by a group of Maryland parents to allow their elementary school children to opt out of lessons involving LGBT-themed books. In its ruling, the 2-1 panel of the Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the parents had failed to demonstrate how the Montgomery County Board of Education’s book policy would infringe anyone’s rights to freely exercise religion. “There’s no evidence at present that the board’s decision not to permit opt-outs compels the parents or their children to change their religious beliefs or conduct, either at school or elsewhere,” U.S. Circuit Judge Steven Agee, who was appointed under President George W. Bush, wrote in the majority opinion. “Simply hearing about other views does not necessarily exert pressure to believe or act differently than one’s religious faith requires.”...