Immediately after the Supreme Court’s proceedings in Mahmoud v. Taylor on April 22, 2025, it became clear that victory for the opt-out crowd was a matter of time.
Who gets the credit for this victory? Brazenly, shamelessly, and undeservedly I’ll claim 0.00005% of the credit because I’ve been following this story since the first rally back in 2023. Moms for Liberty also get credit, as they have been supporting this effort since the beginning as well. Catholics, Ethiopians, Asians, conservatives, and anyone else who chaffs against our local government’s coercion also took part. A very diverse group of people, far more diverse than the LGBT bulldozers, were all in the effort.
All that being said, the lion’s share of the credit goes to the Moslem parents and students who took the lead in assembling this single-issue coalition. They filed the lawsuits, they organized the rallies, they maintained the social media, and kept up the momentum. مبروك لكم جميعا (congratulations to you all)
Nevertheless, nobody should consider this a “win.” The students and their parents successfully returned a situation to a status quo (opt-out), which in my mind is a compromise. The entire subject of LGBT studies should be opt-in along with many other courses. More importantly, victory in a courtroom does not mean the losing side will comply with the ruling. Already County Council members have issued “statements” that give every indication they want to continue with the coercion. It’s also a very safe bet that the Board of Education will continue to operate MCPS as a modern Canadian Residence School. Let’s properly scope the victory in the Supreme Court: we need to ensure compliance and forever stand up to the BoE bullies. As we learned from colonial times, “the price of Liberty is eternal vigilance.”
One aspect of this struggle is almost as important as the SCOTUS ruling: the Parents’ Rights demeanor. Not once have we seen a derogatory comment about LGBT in general and LGBT students in particular. (My guess is that the LGBT students are being used to promote some politicians’ careers.) Compare that with the Board of Education. Since the first opt-out rally, a) Superintendent Monifa McKnight was forced to resign over covering up a sexual predator, b) she received over $1 million in severance pay, c) BoE members who were serving during that scandal were re-elected, d) anti-Semitic teachers and principals have not been disciplined, and e) of course we all remember the comments by Council Member Kristin Mink and BoE members Lynn Harris and Laura Stewart. Given its moral lapses, MCPS is hardly the institution to set standards for how others should behave.
Ever since the Parents’ Rights group became active, I’ve been struggling. Why was this single-issue coalition so successful? There are other examples of progressive coercion and injustice in the county (unethical teachers’ union, oppressive zoning, cost of housing, red-lined school districts, voting rights violations, bloated staffing at MCPS, socialism for the rich) that on a good day barely spark an email campaign, much less a rally or litigation. What is it about the coercive LGBT curriculum that set off this chain of events?
