Muslim parents in a suburban Minneapolis school district will be able to opt their children out of a gender identity and sexuality curriculum that’s part of elementary school English classes, attorneys for the Somali American families said.
The parents, whose children attend public schools in St. Louis Park, contacted several religious liberty advocacy organizations last fall after learning teachers introduced what the students called “inappropriately themed books” in their reading class.
According to the Religious Freedom Institute, which assisted the parents, an elementary school principal told one parent their children “need” to be instructed on gender identity and sexuality.
“We came to America because of its rich heritage of protecting religious liberty and the opportunity to raise our children in a place where they have access to success,” Hodan Hassan, a parent, said in a statement. “We were shocked that our children were being taught material that violates our beliefs, but we’re grateful that the school has granted our opt-out requests.”
First Liberty Institute, which also worked on the case, said the school district would grant exemption requests for middle and high school students.
“Diversity and inclusion must extend to religious families, too,” First Liberty associate counsel Kayla Toney said in a statement. “This is why the First Amendment specifically protects religious exercise.”
Kate Maguire, interim superintendent of St. Louis Park Public Schools, said in an online statement the district “has always complied with the state law regarding parents’ statutory right to opt out of instructional materials, and we will continue to do so.”
“We also want our school community to understand that opt-outs based on representation of protected classes do not align with our organizational core value of advocacy for equity or with our focus on creating a safe and inclusive learning and working environment in our schools,” Ms. Maguire added.
The Minnesota case parallels a similar situation in Montgomery County, Maryland, where Christian, Jewish and Muslim parents have sued for the right to remove their elementary schoolchildren from classes in which storybooks dealing with human sexuality and gender are featured.
A federal judge ruled against the parents in August, and the case is being appealed.