LGBT – Page 15 – Family Council

Federal Lawsuit in Maryland Highlights Importance of Laws Passed in Arkansas

Jun 12, 2023Jerry CoxLGBTLGBT, Library, School

*Above: One of the pro-LGBT books presented to students in Maryland.*

On May 24, three families — one Muslim, one Roman Catholic, and one Ukrainian Orthodox — filed a lawsuit against Maryland’s Montgomery County Board of Education.

In March the school district shifted its policy concerning objectionable material, announcing parents would no longer be notified about LGBT content at school and would no longer be allowed to opt their children out of pro-LGBT material.

World News Group writes,

[W]hen the Montgomery County school district introduced pro-LGBT children’s books into its curriculum last year, all three families decided the content of the books didn’t line up with their religious beliefs about sexuality and marriage. Since the state of Maryland and the Montgomery County district both allow students to opt out of instruction related to family life and human sexuality, the parents declined to have their children in class for the readings. But in March, the school board announced that teachers would no longer offer notice about the LGBT material and students could not opt out, according to a federal lawsuit filed against the board [in May].

The lawsuit alleges that the “Pride Storybooks” in question are not age appropriate for children and that the books “promote one-sided transgender ideology, encourage gender transitioning, and focus excessively on romantic infatuation—with no parental notification or opportunity to opt out.”

The complaint filed in court includes photographs and explanations of some of the objectionable material in the books.

For example, the lawsuit alleges that the book Pride Puppy “invites three- and four-year-olds to look for images of things they might find at a pride parade, including an ‘intersex [flag],’ a ‘[drag] king’ and ‘[drag] queen,’ ‘leather,’ ‘underwear,’ and an image of a celebrated LGBTQ activist and sex worker, ‘Marsha P. Johnson.'” It also highlights pro-LGBT books Love, Violet and Born Ready: The True Story Of A Boy Named Penelope.

These “Pride Storybooks” are similar to pro-LGBT books that have caused controversy in libraries in Arkansas.

In fact, the Arkansas State Library System indicates that Born Ready is available at the Crawford County Library System and the Crowley’s Ridge Regional Library.

Pride Puppy is available at the Crowley’s Ridge Regional Library, the Arkansas River Valley Library System, and the North Little Rock Public Library System.

And Love, Violet is available at the Crawford County Library System, the North Little Rock Public Library System, multiple locations in the Central Arkansas Library System, and other libraries in Arkansas.

All of these books target young children.

In Arkansas, lawmakers have taken steps to keep this type of material out of public school classrooms.

For example, Act 237 of 2023 — the LEARNS Act — is the omnibus education law by Sen. Breanne Davis (R – Russellville) and Rep. Keith Brooks (R – Little Rock) that helps prohibit critical race theory in Arkansas’ public schools, and it protects elementary students from inappropriate sexual material at school.

Public schools have no business promoting pro-LGBT ideology to children, and schools ought to respect parental rights. This lawsuit in Maryland serves as a reminder of those simple facts.

LA Dodgers Award Drag

Jun 1, 2023John StonestreetLGBTLGBT

After a bit of back and forth, the Los Angeles Dodgers have decided to feature the drag group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence during their pride month celebrations and even award them a Community Hero Award. The “sisters” are a mockery of a Catholic religious order and perform blasphemous parodies of Christianity and the sacraments. Their tagline is “Go forth and sin some more,” a perversion of the words of Jesus. Other examples of their acts are too evil to mention.

As Robert George of Princeton observed,

If men wearing hijabs were to prance around mocking Muslim women, insulting Islam and faithful Muslims, and ridiculing the sayings of the Prophet Mohammad, their bigotry would be widely and rightly condemned. What would the Los Angeles Dodgers do? Praise them? Give them an award?

We need to pray for all those who are trapped in these perversions while also calling out the Dodgers for their bigotry against Christianity.

Georgia School Officials Will Pay $181K, Reinstate Wrongfully Fired Teacher

Apr 26, 2023Jerry CoxLGBTLGBT, Religious Freedom, Religious Liberty

The following is a press release from Alliance Defending Freedom.

SAVANNAH, Ga. – To settle a lawsuit brought by a fired Georgia substitute teacher, officials at McAllister Elementary and Bryan County Schools have agreed to reinstate her, pay $181,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees, and publicly expressed regret after violating her constitutionally protected freedoms.

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys represent Lindsey Barr. Bryan County Schools officials fired her as a substitute teacher merely for expressing concerns as a parent over drawings in a picture book being presented to students, including her own young children, at McAllister Elementary School during a library read-aloud program. The book, “All Are Welcome,” contains several illustrations of same-sex couples parenting and expecting children.

“Lindsey spoke out as a Christian, a mother, and a private citizen on an important issue—namely, the content and age-appropriateness of a picture book that the school planned to read to her kids and other elementary-aged children that conflicted with her family’s values and faith. Yet school officials immediately retaliated against her for expressing those views and fired her from a job at which she excelled,” said ADF Senior Counsel Philip A. Sechler. “We commend the school district for finally doing the right thing and understanding that the First Amendment protects the right of Lindsey—and all public employees—to express their concerns about what schools are teaching children without the government cancelling them.”

As part of the settlement agreement, the Bryan County Schools superintendent issued a letter to Barr announcing the reinstatement of her teaching position: “Upon returning, we encourage you as a parent to raise concerns about material being taught to your children,” the superintendent wrote. “Raising such concerns does not preclude employment in our district. For the future, we are focused on the value you add for children across the district as a substitute teacher. We sincerely regret that your separation from the school district caused any distress.”

“Terminating a teacher for engaging in First Amendment protected expression creates an atmosphere of fear and sends a message to the teacher and others in the community that, if they criticize the school’s approach to cultural or political issues or express viewpoints contrary to the school’s preferred viewpoints, they will face consequences,” said ADF Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom. “That’s unlawful and why we had to file suit in Lindsey’s situation. The settlement the school district agreed to is a victory for Lindsey, the families of Bryan County Schools, and every parent’s fundamental right to speak out concerning their children.”

Barr’s situation highlights the need for the new Georgia law, the Parents’ Bill of Rights, that recognizes the “fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their minor children” and affords them the “right to review all instructional material intended for use in the classroom of his or her minor child.” This law directs each board of education, including the Bryan County Board of Education, to adopt “procedures for a parent to object to instructional material intended for use in his or her minor child’s classroom or recommended by his or her minor child’s teacher.”

In light of the settlement in the lawsuit, Barr v. Tucker, ADF attorneys filed a stipulated dismissal Monday.

Keri M. Martin, one of more than 4,700 attorneys in the ADF Attorney Network, served as local counsel on behalf of Barr.

Pronunciation guide: Sechler (SECK-lur); Langhofer (LANG’-hoff-ur)

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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