Two judges who allow teachers to show LGBTQ+ materials to pupils win USPIE’s June 2024 Millstone Award

Maryland’s largest public school system does not have to allow parents to opt their kids as young as five years old out of lessons involving LGBTQ themes, according to a federal appeals court panel.

Judge G. Steven Agee, a George H.W. Bush appointee, wrote the 2-1 majority opinion in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. He stated that parents didn’t show enough evidence that the policy violates the free exercise of their religion and their due process right to direct their children’s education.

DeAndrea G. Benjamin, a Joe Biden appointee, concurred in the majority decision.

The May 15 ruling in Mahmoud v. McKnight came in response to a lawsuit filed by a group of parents in Montgomery County, a suburb of Washington, D.C. The parents believe the responsibility for handling sensitive topics like these should be their own — not the schools’.

“The Fourth Circuit refused to give parents their rightful power over their local school boards. They said parents had to submit to the LGBTQ indoctrination of their kids from kindergarten to 5th grade,” said Sheri Few, founder and president of United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE.org).

“We hereby confer the June 2024 Millstone Award to Judges Agee and Benjamin. This is truly an egregious ruling that facilitates an open attack on children’s innocence and parental authority.”

USPIE’s Millstone of the Month Award” is given to the person or organization involved in government schools who has committed the most egregious acts against children.

The Court panel in Richmond, Virginia said that Maryland parents cannot opt their children out of LGBTQinclusive book curricula in classrooms.

The books “involve issues around sexuality that are simply too mature for such young children,” said Eric Baxter, senior counsel and vice president at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, who noted that the parents are not asking for the removal of the books, just the right to protect their children from being forced to read them. He said an appeal will be made to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Becket Fund represents roughly 300 parents — Christians, including Ethiopian Orthodox and Muslims – who want to be able to excuse their Pre-K to fifth-grade students from specific materials.

The book titles include “The Pride Puppy,” “Uncle Bobby's Wedding,” and “Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope.”

Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum, Jr., a Trump appointee, dissented, saying he would have overturned the district court ruling and blocked the school district’s policy. Twenty-two states and dozens of groups filed amicus briefs in support of the parents. The ACLU and other leftist groups filed briefs in favor of denying parents the opt-out.

“It’s clear the schools are out of control and that the courts are siding with people who feel it’s their right to indoctrinate children with LGBTQ propaganda,” Few said. “This should be an alarm for all parents and prompt many to find an alternative.

“The answer is two-fold: 1) Educate children at home or in private schools while 2) working as concerned citizens to shine a spotlight on the evils that schools commit in the name of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and the sugar-coated LGBTQ agenda.”

United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) is a nonprofit, nationwide coalition that seeks to return education to its proper local roots and restore parental authority over their children’s education by helping parents and local communities to escape federal and other national influences. It is the vision of USPIE to create a culture where parents, empowered with the authority to choose what and how their children learn, are the undisputed primary educators of their children, where local schools operate in support of families, and where education is unencumbered by federal mandates.

For more information on United States Parents Involved in Education, visit www.uspie.org or follow  USPIE on Facebook or Twitter.