Opting Out of LGBT Kindergarten Lessons

A federal judge in Massachusetts has granted a preliminary injunction in favor of a Christian father who sued Lexington Public Schools, seeking to exempt his kindergarten-aged child from lessons and materials he says conflict with his religious beliefs regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.

The father, identified as “Alan L.,” argued that the district’s inclusion of LGBT-related content in classroom instruction violated his “sincere and deeply held” religious convictions. He had repeatedly asked the school to allow his child to opt out not just of specific LGBT content but also of broader diversity, equity, and inclusion programming, health class lessons, and other related instructional activities. These requests were denied prior to the lawsuit.

In his December 30 ruling, U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV noted that the child had been exposed to multiple materials the parent opposed, including read-aloud content like Families, Families, Families! and All Are Welcome, which depict and normalize same-sex families. The father expressed concerns about additional books with similar themes, asserting that continued exposure would cause “irreparable harm” to his constitutional rights under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

Judge Saylor’s decision explicitly referenced the Supreme Court’s 2025 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which held that parents must be permitted to opt their children out of lessons that could substantially interfere with their religious upbringing. Drawing on this precedent, Saylor determined the plaintiff was likely to succeed on the merits of his claim and would suffer harm without an injunction, emphasizing that public schools cannot condition access to education on exposing the child to content that burdens the parent’s free exercise of religion. The injunction will remain in effect while the broader litigation continues.

Civil liberties advocates aligned with the father praised the ruling. "This ruling reinforces that parents have the right to direct the religious upbringing of their children," said Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mat Staver. The law firm’s statement contended that requiring children to receive instruction that contradicts their family’s faith constitutes unconstitutional government coercion.

For the full report, see the original article by Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter:

Judge backs Christian dad seeking to opt kid out of LGBT kindergarten lessons