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   From: noreply@mixmin.net   
      
   The father said it goes against his Christian values to have his child   
   schooled on “diversity, equity, and inclusion issues, including issues   
   of race, gender, and sexuality, taught from a secular worldview.”   
      
   A Lexington father is suing the town’s school district and some of its   
   leaders, alleging they stonewalled his attempts to excuse his   
   kindergartener from lessons featuring LGBTQ themes that conflict with   
   his Christian values.   
      
   The parent, referred to as “Alan L.” in the Oct. 17 complaint,   
   specifically pointed to picture books depicting same-sex couples and   
   their children — classroom instruction he says is “unmistakably   
   normative and contradicts his family’s faith by normalizing and   
   celebrating LGBTQ relationships and identities.”   
      
   He’s suing Lexington Public Schools, the Lexington School Committee, and   
   three administrators in federal court, accusing them of violating his   
   civil rights, due process rights, freedom of religion, and right to   
   direct his child’s upbringing.   
      
   In an affidavit filed earlier this month, Alan L. said it goes against   
   his religious beliefs to allow his child, J.L., to be instructed in   
   content that touches on “diversity, equity, and inclusion issues,   
   including issues of race, gender, and sexuality, taught from a secular   
   worldview.”   
      
   “I should not have to choose between enrolling my child in public school   
   and protecting J.L.’s religious upbringing,” he wrote. “But that is the   
   choice [Lexington school officials] are forcing me to make.”   
      
   He’s asking a federal judge to keep Lexington from forcing his son to   
   participate in lessons that conflict with the family’s religious beliefs   
   without prior notice and the opportunity to opt-out, among other   
   stipulations.   
      
   Alan L. has also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction that would,   
   among other things, require advanced notice of classroom materials on   
   sexual education, LGBTQ relationships or identities, and lessons   
   “promoting the LGBTQ Pride movement or Black Lives Matter.”   
      
   A judge has yet to rule on the request.   
      
   According to the lawsuit, Alan L. contacted school officials over the   
   summer and asked that his child be opted out of health class and any DEI   
   lessons upon starting at Joseph Estabrook Elementary School. However, he   
   alleges school officials ignored his requests and dragged their feet on   
   providing class materials in what he describes as a “pattern of   
   bureaucratic evasion designed to frustrate faith-based parental   
   decision-making.”   
      
   In the meantime, he says, J.L.’s class was shown the books “All Are   
   Welcome” and “Families, Families, Families!” The latter uses animals to   
   depict various family makeups — a single mom, for example, or a family   
   with two fathers — and Alan L. alleges the book “conveys the message   
   that all family arrangements are equally morally acceptable.”   
      
   He claims he was forced to do “damage control” and address sensitive   
   topics with his child much earlier than he intended.   
      
   How Lexington responded   
   But in a motion opposing the preliminary injunction, Lexington Public   
   Schools said J.L.’s teachers do not recall him being in class for the   
   readings in question. School officials noted J.L. has an Individualized   
   Education Program, or IEP, that calls for more time outside the   
   kindergarten classroom than in it. Both picture books were purportedly   
   shown during times when J.L. is typically receiving out-of-classroom   
   services, according to the response.   
      
   Lexington officials further alleged Alan L.’s opt-out requests were too   
   broad and vague. Both sides are at odds over whether the district was   
   required to comply under a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in which   
   the justices sided with religious parents who want to pull their   
   children out of class when a lesson features LGBTQ-themed storybooks.   
      
   Alan L. is represented by attorneys from the American Center for Law and   
   Justice and the Massachusetts Family Institute, two conservative   
   organizations focused on religious freedoms.   
      
   Lexington Public Schools said it’s willing to address materials on a   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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