‘Leather and bondage’: Supreme Court spars over details of LGBT+ children’s books at center of religious freedom dispute

The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case brought by a group of religious parents from Maryland who hope to obtain the right to remove their children from classes that read storybooks featuring LGBT+ characters.

In preparation for Tuesday’s arguments, the nine justices read books such as Pride Puppy, which takes readers through the alphabet while sharing the story of a girl whose puppy gets loose while at a pride parade. Also, Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, a story about a girl who worries she will spend less time with her favorite uncle after he marries his boyfriend.

The content of the books – whether they “promote one-sided transgender ideology, encourage gender transitioning, and focus excessively on romantic infatuation,” as plaintiffs allege – became a point of contention during arguments.

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Those storybooks, and others, have led to a legal battle between a group of parents in Maryland, from various faith backgrounds, and the Montgomery County Board of Education. The dispute is about whether the school board must have an opt-out policy for children whose parents believe the themes of the book go against their religious beliefs.

“It has a clear moral message,” Justice Samuel Alito said of the book Uncle Bobby’s Wedding.

“And it may be a good message. It’s just a message that a lot of religious people disagree with,” Alito added.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor sparred with Alito over the claim, noting that the children’s book was not questioning the morality of same-sex marriage nor contained any images of two men kissing.

“Haven’t we made very clear that the mere exposure to things that you object to is not coercion?” Sotomayor asked.

Alito responded that there could be “a book club” with “a debate about how Uncle Bobby’s marriage should be understood.”

Sotomayor and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson both voiced concern over how a school may implement an opt-out policy. The reason the Montgomery school district got rid of that policy was that allowing children to opt out was becoming disruptive.

Justice Elena Kagan expressed concern about a potentially broad ruling, which made it difficult to draw the line between allowing school administrators to make decisions while giving parents the right to oversee their children’s upbringing.

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But the details of the books became a memorable part of the arguments on Tuesday.

Justice Neil Gorsuch honed in on details of the book Pride Puppy – referring to it as “the one where they’re supposed to look for the leather and bondage things like that.” Gorsuch asked if the book, which is read to pre-kindergarten children, featured a “sex worker.”

A lawyer for the Montgomery County Public Schools disputed the claim. He told Gorsuch that one part of the book points to a woman in a leather jacket.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who lives in Montgomery County, said he was “surprised” that these arguments had arisen, given that the county has a diverse population. The county school board introduced the storybooks as part of an effort to better reflect the district's diversity.

"I'm surprised this is the hill to die on in terms of not respecting religious liberty," Kavanaugh said.

The case is the latest dispute involving religion to come before the court. The justices have repeatedly endorsed claims of religious discrimination in recent years.

A decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor is expected by early summer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report