School starts Aug. 28 in Montgomery County, following several months of protests by parents over LGBTQ+ inclusive course material in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). In May, three families filed a lawsuit against school board members and superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight, demanding that parents be allowed to opt their children out of engaging with the material.

On Wednesday, a federal judge heard arguments from advocates from both sides in a hearing that lasted more than three hours before a packed courtroom, MoCo 360 reported. The judge, Deborah Boardman, is expected to issue a ruling by the beginning of the school year on a preliminary injunction requested by the plaintiffs. The judge’s ruling would not be a final resolution of the lawsuit, but will determine whether or not parents can immediately opt students out of required LGBTQ+ inclusive materials while the lawsuit moves forward. (Update 8/25/23:  The judge ruled Aug. 24 that plaintiffs did not meet the requirements for an injunction and that parents cannot opt their children out of required materials at this time).

MCPS has been taking measures in recent years to be more inclusive of LGBTQ+ students. In the 2022-2023 school year, the school district added six new books featuring LGBTQ+ people to the supplemental curriculum for pre-K through fifth grade. MCPS later issued guidelines clarifying that parents and students could not choose to opt out of LGBTQ+ inclusive instructional materials, and that teachers would not give parents prior notice when students were assigned inclusive readings.

Parents and advocates have protested outside the last several school board meetings. A rally in late June drew hundreds of protesters, chanting “protect our children” and carrying signs reading “Protect Religious Freedom” and “Opt Out Now.” In response, MCPS issued a rare statement saying it would not revisit the issue and that they remained committed “to cultivating an inclusive and welcoming learning environment.”

The Montgomery County protests have been led primarily by Muslim and Ethiopian Orthodox families. The parents have argued that the school’s policies violate their religious rights, with some asserting that their opposition does not stem from homophobic views. Organizers have been joined by conservative Christian activists from outside the county, but the MCPS protesters have kept extremist far-right groups like Moms for Liberty at a distance. LGBTQ+ inclusive course material has also faced pushback from parents elsewhere in the country, including in Virginia, where parents are allowed to opt their students out of material that is considered “sexually explicit” (the term is broadly defined).

Supporters of the school district’s LGBTQ+ inclusive policies also rallied, including Jill Ortman-Fouse, a former at-large member of the Board of Education. Ortman-Fouse said that MCPS had been working toward more inclusive LGBTQ+ policies for years.

“This is something student members on the board were huge advocates for,” Ortman-Fouse told DCist/WAMU. “Children are most successful in an environment where they feel welcome, included and understood.”

The district’s LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum has won vocal support from two of three MCPS-affiliated unions. The principals’ union, however, has not issued a comparable public statement, and an internal memo shows that some elementary school principals were concerned about the material. In the internal memo, principals raised concerns about “age-inappropriate content,” “contradictory” messaging on the purpose of the materials, “anti-religious bias,” and insufficient and inconsistent training for teachers in how to engage with the LGBTQ-inclusive course material. The memo was attached to a Nov. 22 email that national Muslim civil-rights organization CAIR shared earlier this month.

Advocates opposing the school district’s policies rallied again Wednesday morning before the hearing outside the U.S. District Courthouse in Greenbelt. MoCo 360 reported that the protesters gathered in a parking lot across the street from the courthouse organized by the plaintiffs’ attorneys. Police later interrupted the rally, ordering protesters to vacate because the parking lot was private property.

Tyrone Turner contributed reporting. 

This post has been updated with additional context on an internal memo by Montgomery County Public Schools principals.