Re: “The Supreme Court is right to respect parents’ faith” (July 5, Opinion):
Columnist Stephen L. Carter agrees with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling allowing parents to “opt-out” their children from public school lessons that include (one mention? two? three?) LGBTQ+ issues or characters. The lessons, goes the argument, violate parents’ First Amendment rights if children are “coerced” to see materials their parents would object to.
Carter does admit that exposure doesn’t necessarily equal coercion, yet it could “burden” a parent’s ability to indoctrinate their children to their beliefs. Public schools are there to teach facts, not religion. No doubt, academia has fueled departure from fairy tales for centuries. But can Nazi parents get a pass on World War II lessons? Can parents who view girls as inferior to boys (Protestant and otherwise) opt their girls out of school?
This is just the continuation of the erroneous belief that “exposure” makes kids gay. Otherwise, what difference does it make? Just like heterosexuals, LGBTQ+ people exist in the world. If their existence does “battle with the values” taught at home, that’s bigotry, which fosters hate and violence. I am looking forward to the case with gay parents who want to opt their children out of any lessons that feature or include heterosexual characters.
Cathy Moray, Everett
