LA parents’ group seeks equal rights between LGBTQ students and classmates with religious differences

Parents who notified the Los Angeles Unified School District to remove their children from comprehensive sex education were informed in a letter last fall the right to opt out does not apply to class discussions of gender, sexual orientation and family life.

A resulting lawsuit filed March 2 argues the school district's policy aimed at protecting LGBTQ students violates the religious rights of other students by requiring them to attend classes where the instruction is in opposition to their moral beliefs.

The suit filed for the Left Out parents' association by Fair Oaks attorney David L. Llewellyn Jr. is set for a trial setting conference June 4 before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant. The lawsuit argued the school district's policy of preventing parents from removing their children from these classes violates the plaintiffs' parental and religious rights. Left Out v. Los Angeles Unified School District, 20STCP00873 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed March 2, 2020).

The plaintiffs seek a court mandate for the district to distribute an annual notice, informing all parents for their right to "exercise their primary role in the instruction of their children regarding sex, sexual health and morality," to remove their children from instruction that may conflict with the religious beliefs or moral convictions of the parents "and to have their religious belief regarding human sexuality respected in the public schools equally with the rights of LGBTQ students and parents."

The district's letter that sparked the complaint states, in part, "Outside of the specific topics of the Comprehensive Sexual Health Education program and surveys regarding attitudes concerning or practices related to sex, parents do not have any general right to notice about or to veto or exempt their children from topics included in public school curricula."

Left Out, a California nonprofit unincorporated association, stated in the complaint that the Oct. 18 letter violates a number of California's Education Codes, including §51240, which reads: "(a) If any part of a school's instruction in health conflicts with the religious training and beliefs of a parent or guardian of a pupil, the pupil upon written request of the parent or guardian, shall be excused from the part of the instruction that conflicts with the religious training and beliefs."

The complaint also says the school district has been disseminating false and misleading information stating parents' only rights to have their children excused from sex education are those contained in the California Healthy Young Act (at Education Code §51938 and §51939), and that parents have no other rights to remove their children from objectionable sexual health instruction under Education Code §51240.

As a result of this, Left Out is seeking a writ of mandate requiring the district to notify all parents of students in the district of their parental rights to contest classes, inspect instructional material and observe classes and activities involving their children.

The complaint notes that the California Healthy Youth Act and Education Code 220 states: "No person shall be subjected to discrimination on the basis of [...] gender, gender identity, gender expression, [...] religion, sexual orientation or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code."

The School District and Llewelleyn did not respond to multiple emails and phone calls seeking comments on the lawsuit.