Kirkwood, Missouri - Thomas More Society attorneys sent a demand letter to the Kirkwood School District after it forced middle school students to watch a district-produced video celebrating “LGBTQ+ History Month” without providing parents advance notice and the opportunity to opt their children out of the school’s overt ideological indoctrination.

The October 23 video was narrated by fellow middle school students and described the rainbow flag as a “symbol of love, acceptance, diversity, and hope,” praised the evolution of the “Progress Pride Flag” for “working hard to include everyone,” promoted “the ‘trans’ community”; and urged students to support those who engage in same-sex relationships. It also included a parade of images depicting cross-dressed and inappropriately dressed “Pride” demonstrators along with images of large protest signs, including “We Resist.”

Thomas More Society attorneys say the presentation flagrantly violated the Supreme Court’s landmark recent decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, which held that under the First Amendment, government schools may not show “instruction or material” to children that threatens to undermine their parents’ religious beliefs without first providing parents advance notice and the opportunity to opt their children out.

In Mahmoud, the Supreme Court specifically required notice and opt out opportunities where a government school intended to read “LGBTQ+ storybooks” to children, recognizing that the books promoted an ideology that was contrary to many parents’ religious beliefs. In presenting the “LGBTQ+ History Month” video without providing notice and opt outs, the Kirkwood School District committed precisely the same violation.

“This is the very same conduct that was just rejected by the Supreme Court’s historic Mahmoud decision,” said Thomas More Society Senior Counsel Mary Catherine Martin. “Mahmoud finally recognized what has always been true: when public schools promote LGBTQ+ related ideology or present other controversial views, they risk undermining families’ religious formation. If schools want to instruct on these topics, they must provide an opportunity for parents to excuse their children. Kirkwood failed to do that, completely disregarding parents’ constitutional rights, and will now face the same penalty as the school district in Mahmoud if it does not correct this violation.”

The letter, sent on behalf of a group of concerned Kirkwood residents called Kirkwood for Educational Integrity, warns that the district faces significant legal and financial consequences if it refuses to comply.

“As a practical matter, school districts everywhere should be considering how they will comply with the expectations the Supreme Court laid out in the Mahmoud decision,” Martin said. Along with the demand letter, Thomas More Society provided Kirkwood School District with a model opt out policy that, if adopted, would ensure parents receive notice and ample opportunity to opt their children out of similar content in the future: “Thomas More Society has developed support for school districts that want to comply with the law and support families. We also offer guidance to parents who want to exercise their First Amendment rights to opt out of instruction that undermines their family’s beliefs.”  

Thomas More Society is also representing two parents in an ongoing lawsuit alleging that Kirkwood School District committed multiple violations of Missouri’s Sunshine Law by lying, withholding public records, and otherwise mistreating parents. In that suit, TMS attorneys were recently forced to file a second motion to compel alleging that the District is failing to cooperate with court-ordered discovery.