In Montgomery County, Maryland, the numbers are in, and they tell a striking story. Montgomery County was the lawsuit source that got all the way to the nations highest court. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that families could opt out of school lessons conflicting with their religious beliefs, including instruction about LGBTQ+ people, only 43 families chose to do so.
That’s less than 0.03 percent of the district’s 160,000 students. Far-right activists hailed the June 2025 decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor as a win for “parental rights.” But the response in Maryland’s largest district shows how little appetite parents actually have to exclude their children from LGBTQ+ education. Among the books objected to: Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, Intersectional Allies: We Make Room for All, and Planting the Rainbow: Places of LGBTQ+ History in Maryland.
Those opting out will have their children moved or assigned alternate work—a burden the district says wastes resources to accommodate “the religious beliefs of a tiny minority.” Local residents saw the Maryland numbers as validation. The results underscore a broader truth: when families are free to choose, most choose acceptance. National LGBTQ activists say the results from Maryland will dramatically guide other community decisionmaking.
