Supreme Court conservatives question elementary school policy denying opt-outs for LGBTQ+ books

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Tuesday signaled it will require schools to provide opt-outs for parents who have objections to LGBTQ+ books read in elementary schools, an outcome that would continue the court’s years-long push to expand religious rights.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Tuesday signaled it will require schools to provide opt-outs for parents who have objections to LGBTQ+ books read in elementary schools, an outcome that would continue the court’s years-long push to expand religious rights. During a feisty oral argument in a high-profile case involving a suburban Washington, DC, school district, the court’s conservatives appeared to be mostly aligned on the idea that the decision to decline opt-outs for books burdened the rights of religious parents. “It has a clear moral message,” Justice Samuel Alito, a member of the court’s conservative wing, said during a spirited exchange with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “It may be a good message,” Alito added. “It’s just a message that a lot of religious people disagree with.” The court’s liberal justices repeatedly pressed the idea that simply exposing students to ideas could not possibly burden religion. A majority of the court said in a 2022 decision that mere exposure to ideas doesn’t amount to a coercion of religious beliefs. But others on the court appeared to be open to a standard other than “coercion” to find a religious burden. “Looking at two men getting married – is that the religious objection?” Sotomayor pressed the attorney for the parents who challenged the books. “The most they’re doing is holding hands.”