I was putting together a post on this, then saw tengrain had already done so, so here it is. There is an additional snippet/link from LawDork beneath the MPS window here; I was tossing around which parts to snip for a post when I opened MPS’s page.
SCOTUS conservatives seem eager to increase parents’ religious rights in public schools by Chris Geidner
Tuesday’s arguments over Montgomery County schools’ story-time sessions included alarming questions about LGBTQ people. Read on Substack
The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservatives appeared eager on Tuesday to side with parents wanting to opt their students out of story-time sessions in Montgomery County’s public schools in Maryland that included a handful of books that contain same-sex couples and discussion of what it means to be transgender.
The question brought to the court by the parents’ lawyers from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is not whether schools can do so — as many do — but rather whether the First Amendment’s free exercise guarantee constitutionally requires it.
The school district has argued — and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed — that teachers simply reading the books and students being exposed to these ideas do not constitute “coercion” such that parents’ free exercise rights are implicated.
But, in an alarming sign for LGBTQ people, it was clear that at least three of the justices believe that describing queer people accurately — acknowledging their equal existence — amounts to taking sides or trying to “influence” children.
More broadly, and after two-and-a-half hours of arguments at the Supreme Court, it was clear that the argument from the parents — with backing from the Trump administration — is going to prevail. The only real question was how the court will resolve the case. Given the different paths the court can take, though, the answer to that question is important.
It was, however, a lopsided argument that showed how extreme the “religious freedom” arguments have gotten in front of a court that has made clear that it backs religious supremacy over many — if not most — other constitutional rights. (snip-MORE)
Scottie's Playtime 
Hi all. The sad fact to some of the conservative Christian parents just the mention of gay and trans people exist, that LGBTQ+ people are real is harmful to their children. They want to deny that truth to their kids as long as possible so that they can be indoctrinated to think it is a choice, sin, or simple made up because god doesn’t make people like that. They want their kids to believe that all people, all kids are straight and cis. Those kids who claim to feel different they are just not praying hard enough, they have a demon in them, or they are a sinner who need to be corrected. That is the message that the fundamentalist right is pushing hard.
It gives them the right to deny others personhood and rights. Their goal is to return to the past (as they always want to do with their holy book) when the LGBTQ+ were hidden from society, afraid people would discover their secret of being different, living horrible lives of discontent. They want desperately to wipe the LGBTQ+ people / kids from society and the public. They want the right to bully LGBTQ+ kids who are different from them. They have tried to destroy all anti-bullying programs under the same save the children “don’t say gay” bills. They do not want acceptance or tolerance for anyone different from them. It is part of their idea of forcing the entire country, all the people, to follow their church doctrines living as they claim to. Hugs
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