Hundreds of protesters recently converged on Montgomery County Public School headquarters over the district’s no-opt-out policy concerning LGBTQ+ inclusive storybooks. The debate is making national headlines, even drawing comment from the likes of billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk—and more protests are in the works, advocates say.
While local faith leaders disagree on how to balance school inclusivity with religious freedom concerns, Christians and Muslims interviewed by MoCo360 agree the issue is deeply nuanced.
“Faith leaders in Montgomery County bring a shared value of refusing to allow the partisan politics and divides which so define our current reality in the United States to keep us from doing our important work […] of building beloved community,” said Will Ed Green, pastor of Silver Spring United Methodist Church.
At the center of the ongoing debate is a policy revision MCPS announced on March 24 regarding its use of LGBTQ+ inclusive storybooks in school. According to clarified guidelines, schools will not give prior notice to parents when inclusive texts are read, and families will not be allowed to opt students out. On May 24, three families filed a federal lawsuit against school officials demanding the opt-out be reinstated, and dozens of residents—including several students—have testified for and against the policy at recent school board meetings.
The issue recently drew local County Councilmember Kristen Mink (D-Dist. 5) into conflict with Muslim leaders over comments she made equating Muslim residents’ stance on LGBTQ+ inclusion with views held by “white supremacists.” Mink offered an apology Sunday, which was followed later in the week by an apology to the Jewish community over a 2019 tweet she posted referring to “Zionist Jews.”
Green, himself an open member of the LGBTQ+ community, serves on the county’s Faith Advisory Group—a team of around 25 members who meet regularly and share religious-based needs and concerns directly with the County Executive’s office.
“What’s given me hope is that even where there’s been difference [in our views], there’s been a commitment to learn,” he said. “Among all the faith leaders I’ve been engaged with here in Montgomery County, there’s been a shared commitment not to participate in conversations in ways that politicize human life.”
Green added that while Montgomery County is considered a progressive county, LGBTQ+ residents continue to be one of the most undeserved and under-supported populations.
“I don’t feel comfortable walking downtown [in Silver Spring] and holding my partner’s hand for fear of violence,” he said. “It’s important that our children are seeing queer people represented, and not only as pariah or a trope.”
A majority of the residents who showed up to protest the school district’s no-opt-out policy at its Board of Education headquarters on June 6 were Muslim parents and families.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group in the country and played a key role in helping form the recently named Family Rights for Religious Freedom, the local coalition of parents responsible for organizing the school board protest.
CAIR’s deputy executive director, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, said the hundreds of Muslim parents and students who showed up to protest the opt-out’s removal are “absolutely representative of Muslim families” in the county and beyond, though he added that their faith community is diverse and not monolithic in members’ viewpoints.
While Mitchell noted that similar debates over LGBTQ+ affirming school policies have been cropping up across the country, he said Montgomery County’s situation is unique in some respects.
“MCPS had already figured out how to avoid a conflict and then decided to change course,” he said. “They introduced this material, but they said at the jump, ‘This will not be mandatory.’ It was only when they abruptly removed the opt-out option that there became controversy. This was an avoidable and unnecessary conflict.”
Other local Muslim faith leaders have pushed back on the idea that most Muslims would agree with the need for an opt-out from LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum.
Maliha Khan is the director of the local chapter of Muslims for Progressive Values, a national nonprofit dedicated to building community and advocating for Muslims who don’t feel welcome in mainstream Muslim spaces, which Khan said often embrace more conservative values. She said her group has more than 1,000 members in its D.C. regional chapter.
Khan said the idea that embracing the LGBTQ+ community runs contrary to the Quran’s teachings is “complete nonsense,” adding that the conservative values often embraced in mainstream Muslim spaces are pushing away an increasingly large number of LGBTQ+ affirming Muslims.
“It’s unfortunate that more people don’t see the irony in the conversation about these things,” she said. “Muslims are a minority community. You might not agree with someone’s lifestyle or beliefs, but it’s important to learn about people who are different from you. The more you shut down speech, the more it’s going to come back to bite you.”
There is currently no official demographic data available from Montgomery County Public Schools quantifying how many of its students identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. However, local Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) chapter leader Mark Eckstein cited 2021 data from the state’s Department of Health that he said gives him confidence to state the number is likely over 20 percent for high schoolers. He said this data tracks with a recent student poll from an MCPS middle school that found between 20 and 30 percent of its students self-identified as LGBTQ+.
Zainab Chaudry, director of CAIR’s Maryland office, said the group is planning a rally and protest at the school board’s June 27 meeting to continue advocating for the restoration of the opt-out option.
Chaudry also emphasized that CAIR and the Family Rights for Religious Freedom coalition do not affiliate or coordinate with Moms for Liberty, a right-wing conservative group whose local chapter also made an appearance at the recent protest. The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated Moms for Liberty an extremist group with a documented history of attacking the LGBTQ+ community.
“Unfortunately, there has been a history of very controversial, very troubling positions they’ve taken on different issues that the majority of our families would never want to associate with,” Chaudry said of the group.
Chaudry said the ongoing debate over the opt-out is not about pitting Muslims against the LGBTQ+ community, adding that “the culture war right-wing media outlets are trying to create over this is deeply harmful and a betrayal of the trust we place in our news media.”
Local Moms for Liberty chapter leader Lindsey Smith wrote MoCo360 on Thursday to reiterate her group’s support for the opt-out. Referring to the recent protest, Smith wrote:
“Moms for Liberty came to stand alongside Family Rights for Religious Freedom organization, as we have a similar mission to see the opt-out restored and the MCPS Board of Education to actually stand behind their religious policy.”
While Smith told MoCo360 her organization does not have another protest planned, she sent out an e-newsletter Thursday morning inviting Moms for Liberty members to attend an “Interfaith Rally & March” outside school board headquarters at 2 p.m. on June 27—a separate event from CAIR’s scheduled rally.
“This is your chance to be part of a growing and powerful movement demanding transparency and respect for family rights over government overreach,” the email reads.
The newsletter also encourages readers not to post to social media about the rally or share information about it with media outlets or “anyone that would not support” without prior approval from Smith.
“Because this is a family-friendly event, and because the last rally was mischaracterized by those with differing opinions, we want to do everything possible to keep our message clear. This is not anti-LGBTQ, this is religious rights, parental rights, and age appropriateness,” the email reads.
When reached for comment on her newsletter, Smith repeated her prior statement claiming the group does not have a protest planned.
Stressing the need for the school district to honor its current policy regarding LGBTQ+ inclusive storybooks, Green said he hopes the ongoing community dialogue prompts “learning, growing and adapting” among residents.
“This curriculum is a faithful step forward, but it can’t be our only step forward,” he said. “We as a county need to rise to meet the needs of our LGBTQ+ neighbors in ways that help them thrive. Even as we’re having this conversation, if we let this be the only conversation, we’re missing an opportunity for growth.”