Maryland Muslims blast schools' LGBTQ indoctrination, demand right to opt kids out

On Tuesday, Muslims and Islamists gathered to protest the Montgomery County, Maryland, school board fighting to be allowed to opt their kids out of LGBTQ+ teachings by the school, on religious grounds. The parents were met with counter-protests by progressive activists waving what some call the Progress Pride Flags. 

Muslim protestors chanted "Protect our children," and "Religious Freedom now." While counter-protestors repeated, "Secular schools." The school board allowed 30 people from each side of the issue to come in and give their statements. 

"Freedom of Religion is a fundamental human right that protects the conscience of old people and allows us to think, expressed, and act upon what we deeply believe," said one of the demonstrators. "The issue of gender and sexuality are influenced by our faith, and we should not be caricatured as intolerant and all and our face perceived to be subversive because it doesn't align with your beliefs and tolerance of the faith community threatens to erode support for religious freedom. Therefore eroding the benefits it provides for everyone." 

A supporter of the LGBTQ curriculum explained, "We support the expanded curriculum because it teaches students that there are many ways to be human." She continued, "Allowing families to opt out of this curriculum will perpetuate ignorance, intolerance, and fear of the LGBTQ voices and sends the wrong message that they are right to be afraid."

Kristin Mink, a member of the Montgomery County Council, said that the issue puts "some Muslims families on the same side of an issue as white supremacists, and outright bigots." She explained that she has worked with many of the same families on other issues in the past. "The folks I've talked to today, I would not put in the same category." 

"You cannot say that this is a particular demographic of people who when they appear in books we now allow some students and families to say 'we're not going to read those books.'" She continued, "There's no way to do that without sending a clear message to the LGBTQIA+ community that you are seen as different, as other, and other people don't need to learn about your distance or have you included in the curriculum."

Author Asra Nomani posted on Twitter, "As a Muslim feminist, I don’t agree with many of the conservative interpretations of my Muslim community, but I do believe and they believe in the integral right of parents to parent." She continued, "Sure enough the hard left came after the one interest that no mama bear or papa bear is going to surrender: our kids."

Parents around the country have been speaking out against forcibly teaching LGBTQ curriculums in schools. Violence erupted Tuesday outside a Glendale, California, school board meeting between Antifa, and parents protesting the school's Pride agenda. 

In October, a group of Muslim parents in Dearborn, Michigan, protested their school board over the presence of sexually explicit books in the libraries. While at the same time, parent organizations like Moms for Liberty were deemed a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center for fighting back against the indoctrination of children.