Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center and American Center for Law and Justice Represent the Plaintiff Father
Boston, MA – Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center (MLLC) and American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) attorneys recently filed suit against Lexington Public Schools on behalf of a Christian father whose Kindergarten-age child was exposed to LGBTQ-themed storybooks in direct violation of the father’s religious opt-out request. The case is Alan L. v. Lexington Public Schools, et al.,1:25-cv-13047, and was filed in federal district court in Boston on October 17. The complaint, available here, alleges violations of the father’s rights to religious liberty and due process under both the federal and state constitutions.
This case comes on the heels of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a landmark ruling which affirmed that parents have a First Amendment right to notice and an opportunity to opt their children out of curricular materials in public school that threaten to undermine their religious beliefs. The complaint alleges that, like the parents in Mahmoud, the father in this case sought to excuse his child from portions of the Kindergarten health, social studies, and DEI curriculum that promoted LGBTQ identities or lifestyles. These materials directly contradicted the family’s Christian beliefs regarding sexuality, marriage, and gender.
Lexington’s Kindergarten curriculum includes books like This Day In June, which depicts a Pride parade, BDSM fetishes, and drag queens dressed as nuns, You Have a Voice, which encourages students to become activists for LGBTQ causes, and Families, Families, Families, which tells students that “some children have two dads” and “some children have two mothers.” But despite the clear conflict between these materials and the father’s beliefs, the complaint alleges that LPS did not provide advance notice that the materials were going to be taught and did not honor the father’s request to opt his son out. Instead, the District told the father that he must identify each specific lesson he wanted to opt out of, but refused to provide him with the curriculum information that he would need to do so. The lawsuit seeks compensatory and injunctive relief in light of this violation. For more information regarding this lawsuit, please reach out to contact@malibertylegal.org.