The Supreme Court puts its nose in textbooks – Liberation

There Conservative US Supreme Court must examine this Tuesday the law claimed by parents of students, in the name of their religious freedom, to be informed when books addressing questions of homosexuality and gender are used in progress in order to be able to withdraw their children.

THE Books prohibitions are a sensitive subject in American society. Certain conservative states have thus withdrawn from libraries from the works accused of promoting homosexuality, progressive ideologies or to be too shocking. The Republican Governor of Florida, Ron Desantisalso promulgated in 2022 a law prohibiting teaching subjects in connection with sexual orientation or gender identity in primary school, nicknamed by its detractors « Don’t Say Gay » (« Do not talk about gays »).

In the present case, the Supreme Court examines the appeal of parents of pupils of public schools of a county of Maryland, near Washington, who introduced in 2022 into the course of the nursery and primary school of the books of stories aimed at fighting prejudices on homosexuality or gender identity. The county, after initially planned a notification to families to allow them to request that their children be given lessons where these books could be used, has canceled this option.

Parents, of Muslim or Christian confession, see it as an attack on their freedom of worship, guaranteed by the 1st amendment to the American Constitution. School authorities « Want to disrupt the complainants’ efforts to transmit their religious convictions to their children on sexuality and gender », They say in their written arguments at the Supreme Court, asking him to cancel the decision to appeal against them.

The county explains that « The experience of teachers, directors and school managers has shown that these exemptions were impassable », resulting in particular by an explosion of absenteeism. The jurisprudence of the Supreme Court has established that « The only exposure of students in class with ideas contrary to their religion was not coercion », Prohibited by the Constitution, he argues. The Ministry of Justice of the Trump administration supports parents, denouncing « A case of school of interference in freedom of worship ».

The decision of the nine judges, six conservatives and three progressives, is expected by the term of the current court session in late June.