Wall Street Journal on Gender Storytime in Montgomery County

[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.

[Anonymous]

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

YES. White Christian straight characters only. MAGA.

People who are role models like Pete Hegseth and JD Vance. I’d have said Steven Miller but he’s Jewish, so not worthy of being a role model.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

My God. The editorial and the quotes from the Supreme Court make MCPS look and sound absolutely ridiculous. How embarrassing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

NP. This is just demonstrably untrue. Rapid onset gender dysphoria amongst groups of teenage girls caused by social contagion is a widely-documented phenomena which many people across the ideological spectrum regularly voice concerns about.

[Anonymous]

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

Go read Boy Named Penelope. It’s not a book that’s trying to stay neutral.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Putting aside the emotional aspect of this argument, there is a link to the briefs filed by MCPS and the Plaintiffs. I'm not a lawyer, but it's a fascinating read.

MCPS Opposition to Writ of Certiorari:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-297/335502/20241218150621210_24-297%20-%20Mahmoud%20v.%20Taylor%20-%20Brief%20in%20Opposition.pdf

Plaintiffs Argument for Writ of Certiorari:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24/24-297/336156/20241227173322003_Mahmoud%20Cert%20Reply%20FINAL.pdf

Link to the Documents filed with the case, including various amicus briefs and other replies by MCPS and plaintiffs:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docket/docketfiles/html/public%5C24-297.html

Looks like the question is if the inclusion of these books is just exposing students to ideas that are at odds with their religious beliefs, or if these books are part of an effort by MCPS to instruct students to think a specific way about gender and sexuality.

Interesting read. This is in MCPS's filing in the first link above:

At first, teachers and principals sought to accommodate these requests by excusing students when the
books were read in class. The growing number of opt-out requests, however, gave rise to
three related concerns: high student absenteeism, the infeasibility of administering opt-outs across classrooms
and schools, and the risk of exposing students who believe the storybooks represent them and their families
to social stigma and isolation.

I'm no lawyer so I have no idea about the legal side of this. But from a practical standpoint, if they are getting flooded with opt-out requests, maybe they should listen to such a large number of parents and just not read those books in class? Aren't they supposed to serve the interests of parents and their children? It would be one thing if it's 1 or 2 parents requesting it, but it sounds like a large number of parents opposed this.

(Also interesting MCPS is so concerned about student absenteeism in this situation and not other situations, but that's for another thread.)

But where does that end? What if the majority of families didn't want their kids exposed to any books that have gay people in them? People of color? Disabled people? Should schools just leave all those sorts of people out of books too? Besides being both morally and educationally problematic, that's also harmful to kids from those groups if they don't ever see people like them represented in school materials... avoiding books like that isn't a neutral choice, it's taking sides.

If a majority of families want X, the school system should probably do X. The schools are there to serve the parents and their children. We have an elected BOE, and open board meetings for this reason -- so the community can provide their input and the majority can vote for people who will steer the school system in the direction of the will of the people.

Unfortunately, the BOE does not know what its role or purpose is. It's disturbing how disconnected from the community MCPS and the BOE are.

I could not agree with this post more. And not just about these novels. The BOE repeatedly shows they don’t understand their role and fail to provide appropriate oversight of MCPS.