Wall Street Journal on Gender Storytime in Montgomery County

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The easy answer is to opt out of public school.

Sure, trans activists can create their own private schools where they can promote trans ideology to their hearts content.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The easy answer is to opt out of public school.

Sure, trans activists can create their own private schools where they can promote trans ideology to their hearts content.

The case is about religion and children saying their religion forbids them from looking at material that is accepting of trans children. The issue is the religious people needing to have special circumstances bc of their religion.

[Anonymous]

The minority here is the religious people who need special circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The minority here is the religious people who need special circumstances.

That’s what you think. Again, there is a silent majority on this issue.

Most MCPS parents and families have a “live and let live” philosophy when it comes to parents who are rabid LGBT activists who insist that the kindergarten boy who used to be called John and now insists on using she/her pronouns and being called Trinity. That’s because we are tolerant and respectful that individual families can make choices that are right for them, even if we don’t think they are right for ours.

But trust and believe when the Supreme Court rules in the opt-out parents’ favor that there will not be mass protests against the ruling because quietly, most MCPS parents will be breathing a sigh of relief that there’s finally some kind of limit to the LGBT indoctrination in schools which has to date, gone unchecked and unchallenged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The easy answer is to opt out of public school.

In that case, the easy response is vouchers or tax credits equal to per student spending by MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread really exposes that the objection to these books is not about religious freedom, as nearly no commenters cite religion in making the case about keeping these books away from their kids.

I am not a religious person. I don't want my 6 year old to learn about drag queen and gay parade when he goes to school.

That’s nice but not the topic of the lawsuit.

Right. The topic of the lawsuit is a fanatical majority trampling over people they didn’t like because of their sincerely held religious beliefs. They made things worse by picking texts that were not even remotely age appropriate, but the shock value was part of their point. Now they’re going to lose and we’ll see how much the court expands parental rights in the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The minority here is the religious people who need special circumstances.

MCPS claimed so many people wanted the opt out that it was too difficult to manage, so they stopped offering the opt out. That suggests it wasn't a small minority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The minority here is the religious people who need special circumstances.

That’s what you think. Again, there is a silent majority on this issue.

Most MCPS parents and families have a “live and let live” philosophy when it comes to parents who are rabid LGBT activists who insist that the kindergarten boy who used to be called John and now insists on using she/her pronouns and being called Trinity. That’s because we are tolerant and respectful that individual families can make choices that are right for them, even if we don’t think they are right for ours.

But trust and believe when the Supreme Court rules in the opt-out parents’ favor that there will not be mass protests against the ruling because quietly, most MCPS parents will be breathing a sigh of relief that there’s finally some kind of limit to the LGBT indoctrination in schools which has to date, gone unchecked and unchallenged.

Amen! Well said and very true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The minority here is the religious people who need special circumstances.

That’s what you think. Again, there is a silent majority on this issue.

Most MCPS parents and families have a “live and let live” philosophy when it comes to parents who are rabid LGBT activists who insist that the kindergarten boy who used to be called John and now insists on using she/her pronouns and being called Trinity. That’s because we are tolerant and respectful that individual families can make choices that are right for them, even if we don’t think they are right for ours.

But trust and believe when the Supreme Court rules in the opt-out parents’ favor that there will not be mass protests against the ruling because quietly, most MCPS parents will be breathing a sigh of relief that there’s finally some kind of limit to the LGBT indoctrination in schools which has to date, gone unchecked and unchallenged.

+10000 yes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The easy answer is to opt out of public school.

Sure, trans activists can create their own private schools where they can promote trans ideology to their hearts content.

The case is about religion and children saying their religion forbids them from looking at material that is accepting of trans children. The issue is the religious people needing to have special circumstances bc of their religion.

They allow opt out for health ed so they should allow opt out for this. Parents still have rights.

[Anonymous]

Is it wrong to read picture books with ethnically diverse characters? What is the difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The minority here is the religious people who need special circumstances.

MCPS claimed so many people wanted the opt out that it was too difficult to manage, so they stopped offering the opt out. That suggests it wasn't a small minority.

They said it was dozens. That is a small minority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never once seen an example of a book that was actually being read in class that was actually offensive. The examples they have in the lawsuit seemed to be books that were on lists to possibly be read but no one ever seemed to say “yes my kids second grade teacher is reading this.”
It just seems like a huge non issue.

+1

Not one of these books was ever used in the classroom

The people are lying. They don't even have kids in public school. This lawsuit is absurd.

SCOTUS will give them this win God help all of us. It is not going to end well. UGH

That’s not true. My DD’s 4th grade class had to read the Boy Named Penelope book. I think that book is absolutely ridiculous and dangerous.

Huh? What on earth is "dangerous" about it? I've read it, it's a simple kids book about a kid who's trans... It honestly seems fine even for 5 year olds let alone 4th graders, nothing about genitals or sex or anything else folks might think is age-inappropriate, just a little trans kid being a kid. I can't imagine anything offensive or problematic about it, unless you don't think kids should know that trans kids exist? And even then, dangerous suggests someone could somehow be hurt by it and unless your kid is such a fragile snowflake you think they're going to collapse upon learning of the existence of trans kids (super weird if so), how could a book like this possibly hurt anyone?

I think the argument people are having here is about: do you think kids can change their gender just by thinking it is so, and do you think we should teach them about it. I think there is a reasonable difference of opinion on this.

Correct. This is one of the main arguments that LGBTQ advocates insist is truth and must be accepted by all as truth that the silent majority is resisting.

"silent majority"?

LOL, no.

+100000. I don’t think you can change your gender by thinking you’re a different gender. Plenty of people agree with me. The transgender movement is odd and I don’t know how we got here. I don’t want to discriminate against transgender kids but I also don’t want to teach young children that this is normal behavior. In my opinion, it’s often girls who 50 years ago would be a tom boy.

Hardly. The shift that freaks so many of these people out is boys who decide they are girls. THAT is the thing that freaks conservatives out. You never hear them talking about trans boys. It's all a huge freak out about trans girls.

If you ask me, all of this is the fault of the MAGA/Trumper idiots. THEY brought this very small group of people to the forefront to scapegoat them and use them to whip the conservative haters into a frenzy. Same things with immigrants. It's their typical divisive sh*t to use people's prejudices and demonize a vulnerable group for their own political gain. On the other side, people find this demonization of vulnerable groups so repulsive (fittingly) that they go hard in the other direction in an attempt to defend people they think are vulnerable.

So if you don't like having to talk about trans people all the time, go tell the MAGA morons who won't let it rest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The minority here is the religious people who need special circumstances.

MCPS claimed so many people wanted the opt out that it was too difficult to manage, so they stopped offering the opt out. That suggests it wasn't a small minority.

They said it was dozens. That is a small minority.

Dozens in total across a school system of 130k kids? Then why was it so difficult to manage? Their claim is it was so popular that they couldn't manage it. Something doesn't add up.

[Anonymous]

WaPo's opinion section just published a piece critical of MCPS:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2025/04/23/supreme-court-montgomery-county-mahmoud-taylor/

Here's a key fair-use excerpt:

But forcing children to read books that contravene their family’s faith suppresses diversity in the name of saving it. The district should have maintained the opt-out and, having made the mistake of rescinding it, should have restored it after parents protested. Instead, time and money were wasted defending a lawsuit. Those resources would have been better used to improve the quality of education for all Montgomery County students, regardless of what they believe.