California parents have filed a federal lawsuit against a school district, alleging officials refused to let them opt their young children out of LGBT-related classroom instruction despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on parental rights.
Justin and Rose Taylor sued the Sunnyvale School District on Monday, arguing that elementary students are still being required to take part in LGBT-themed lessons without advance notice to parents or an opportunity to opt out.
The Taylors, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, have four children, including a third-grade son and a first-grade daughter at Cumberland Elementary School.
According to the lawsuit, the curriculum “is clearly designed to present certain values and beliefs as things to be celebrated and certain contrary values and beliefs as things to be rejected.”
The complaint states that the Taylors asked the district in September 2025 to notify them when LGBT-themed books or similar materials would be used and to allow their children to be excused from those lessons.
Their request cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in Mahmoud, Tamer, et al. v. Taylor, Thomas W., et al., which held that Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland could not require children to be exposed to LGBT-themed books without respecting religious parents’ objections.
“Yet after months of cordial conversation, Sunnyvale abruptly reversed course and denied the Taylors’ request for notice and opt-outs, stating in a letter that [LGBT] instruction ‘is not optional and is not subject to parent opt-out provisions,’” the lawsuit stated.
Sunnyvale officials argued that the Supreme Court ruling applied to a specific case in another state and did not establish a “general or automatic right for parents to opt their children out of required curriculum.”
The district also maintained that the decision “does not override California’s statutory requirements governing instructional content.”
In their lawsuit, the Taylors are asking a federal court to prevent the district from enforcing its policy in a way they say defies the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The complaint points to several LGBT-themed books listed as instructional materials at the children’s elementary school, including the picture book Pride Puppy.
According to the lawsuit, the book asks very young children to identify items associated with a pride parade, including a “[drag] king” and “[drag] queen,” “leather,” “underwear,” and an image of Marsha P. Johnson, an LGBT activist and sex worker.
The Taylors argue that the materials are “age-inappropriate and inconsistent with their religious beliefs, practices and child-raising philosophies,” and contend that requiring their children to participate undermines their ability to raise them according to their faith.
