Seattle Public Schools is refusing to allow parents to opt their children out of LGBTQ-themed lessons in classrooms, despite the Supreme Court ruling in June that school districts must provide this option to parents.
The school district explains on its website that “there is no option to ‘opt students out’ of learning about particular identities or groups of people.” Parents can opt their children out of lessons specifically designated as “sexual health education,” but they cannot opt their children out of “LGBTQ inclusive instruction.”
Topics considered as part of this LGBTQ instruction include “book readings that include LGBTQ+ characters,” “sharing pronouns,” “displaying posters or flags supporting the LGBTQ+ community,” “acknowledging Pride Month or teaching LGBTQ+ history,” and “defining terms (such as ‘Transgender’ or ‘Gender Identity’) for the purpose of increasing kindness.”
In June, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that parents have a right under the First Amendment’s religious liberty clause to opt their children out of controversial lessons covering issues such as homosexuality and transgenderism. But now at least one school district in Seattle is apparently in open defiance of that ruling.
“It appears that Seattle is openly defying the Supreme Court of the US, which, in Mahmoud v. Taylor, just held that parents have a RIGHT to opt their kids out of this sort of LGBT indoctrination,” Texas Senator Ted Cruz wrote in an X post last week. “Any officials knowingly violating that right could be liable for big money damages.”
The school district has a list of “Gender Lessons” online for children in kindergarten through the fifth grade. The lesson for kindergarten students includes discussions of a book titled Introducing Teddy, which is about a “boy Teddy” who claims to be a “girl Teddy” in his heart. Other lessons also include books promoting transgender ideology to young students, such as My Princess Boy for first graders, Jacob’s New Dress for second graders, and I Am Jazz for fourth graders.
Moms for Liberty of King County Vice Chair Beth Daranciang voiced her concerns about the curriculum to the local outlet KOMO News on Saturday.
“It’s a dangerous policy,” she said. “Our children are in danger because the Seattle school district is liable for pushing an anti-scientific ideology on children, which does not allow parents to opt out.”
Seattle Public Schools has a long history of promoting controversial activities and curricula to students. In 2023, a middle school teacher within the district had students create cards promoting LGBTQ issues and then mailed them to the national Moms for Liberty organization.
Last year, the parental rights organization Defending Education also exposed that a “School-Based Health Center” provider within the district offered “gender-affirming care services” to students, which included “access to important medical interventions, including hormonal treatments.”
In May, Defending Education discovered emails where Seattle Public Schools staff accused Israel of “colonialism,” “ethnic cleansing,” “occupation,” and “genocide” in conversations with each other. In one of the emails, a transgender employee stated that the terrorist organization Hamas was “created and funded by Israel.”
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
if parents needed a reason to pull their kids out of public schools, Seattle just gave them another one.
Violating federal law, so arrest the school board members and the administrators who are refusing to follow the law. AFTER taking away ALL FEDERAL FUNDING. And freeze any that would go back via the Dept of Education moving things back to the states. They have just shown they cannot be responsible with federal funds of any kind. Until the arrests start this will NOT stop!
Seattleites are almost as leftist-dumb as New Yorkers. No amount of surgery and drugs can SUCESSFULLY change the gender of a human. Drugs and surgery can only produce mutilated things of no gender whose plumbing no longer works correctly.
The insanity of the liberal left is trying to destroy our children. Private school is the antidote.
Would those be the same schools that produce semiliterate students, not to mention completely ignorant of anything pertaining to simple math Is it any wonder that Chinese and East Indian outperforms our students every time?
If you are a homosexual … you are a homosexual. If you subscribe to being a transexual, be a transexual … but forcing your beliefs and thought processes on children, qualifies you as a pedophile even if no other contact is present. It is a sickness, like the LGBTQ militia, attempting to force the rest of the world to not only accept who you are or think you are, but to consider your ilk as beyond equals … as if you are the next step in evolution.
I was fine with letting homosexuals exist in our communities, letting transexuals exist among us … but when pushed to accept LGBTQ as better and higher in the role of evolution … militarizing the concept …. I personally draw a line in the sand!
As noted above, in April of this year in Mahmoud v Taylor, the Supreme Court held that “MCPS was burdening the parents’ right to free exercise of religion under the First Amendment by not providing notices and opt-outs”. Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the lack of an “opt-out” for parents places an unconstitutional burden on their rights to religious freedom.
This will not stand.
I think it’s time for a nation-wide school voucher program. Most parents have to work and cannot afford or are not qualified to homeschool their children, and there are very few free private schools. Parents should not be forced to send their children to schools that teach lies.
Why haven’t the parents banded together and filed a class action lawsuit? The school district has no right to do this. They all should be removed from office and sued.
As soon as my child got off of the bus, I would try desperately to undo the liberal, leftist brainwashing and replace it with good, old-fashioned, Christian values. Children need to understand the truth about gender confusion as a mental disorder.
Public school anti science propaganda masquerading as education. Democrats and tyranny go hand in hand. The people of Seattle should move to some totalitarian country where their political views would more closely align with their new home!
Arrest the evil offenders and cut off financial aid until they stop committing the crime!!
Just SICK!
“Private school…” is not “…the antidote.” Removing all liberal leftists infesting the school system in the capacities of administrators, “woke” teachers and their unions must be blasted out of the educational industry and common sense restored by holding elections intended to return education to what it once was—before the Alinskyites began their infiltration activities. Take back the public schools. If local,, state, and federal legislators, activist judges and entrenched bureaucrats stymie the return to normalcy, rid the system of them, too.
Seattle is a lost cause, they are totally “signed, sealed and delivered” Progressive Leftist Communist.
I think the LGBTQ theme scheme meets the definition of religion/cult found in Title VIII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964. Therefore, unless they allow the teaching of other religious viewpoints, it should be illegal to teach it in schools.
You have GOT to be kidding…!
The west coast is EVIL and dying a slow death
Time for Conservatives to put an end to public schools. Start with Seattle.
The Supreme Court ruled against this so start putting these Seattle “Educators” in prison!
Okay, real people in Seattle…. time to protect your girls cuz your local gov’t isn’t going to
You people are absolutely mentally challenged.