ABFE Statement on Mahmoud v. Taylor Ruling

American Booksellers for Free Expression is deeply disappointed by the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in Mahmoud v. Taylor, singling out LGBTQIA2S+ books for special scrutiny to provide parents with “opt-outs” of their inclusive messaging. The plaintiffs in the case allege that the First Amendment rights of certain parents were violated because the “normative” messages in the books — that LGBTQIA2S+ identities, marriages, and communities exist and should be respected — violated the religious upbringing of the students. In its defense, Montgomery County Public Schools argued that such opt-outs would be burdensome, counter to its policies of inclusion, and would adversely affect LGBTQIA2S+ students in the district.

 

An “opt-out” does not just impact the students whose parents choose to exercise it. As Justice Sotomayor notes in her dissent, “many school districts, and particularly the most resource strapped, cannot afford to engage in costly litigation over opt-out rights…Schools may instead censor their curricula, stripping material that risks generating religious objections. The Court’s ruling, in effect, thus hands a subset of parents the right to veto curricular choices long left to locally elected school boards.” This decision subjects LGBTQIA2S+-inclusive books to a special scrutiny based on their ideas, stigmatizing LGBTQIA2S+ children and families while letting the religious views of some parents dictate curriculum for all students.

 

Today’s ruling impacts educators, parents, and students, but it does not determine what booksellers can do. Indie bookstores can continue to offer third spaces where tolerance and pluralism are uplifted if they so choose. But that does not erase the stigma that will attach to inclusive books as a result of this ruling, and it does not undo the shame some children will experience when their peers have to leave the room because of characters in whom they see themselves reflected.

 

We stand with teachers, parents, students, and educators as they navigate the uncertain waters in the wake of this ruling. To help any who feel a desire to support the authors in some way in their store, we have compiled a list of books implicated in the complaint.