Lexington parent sues over LGBTQ-friendly storybooks in schools

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
case-by-case basis to determine whether the content encourages or
promotes ideals Alan L. finds objectionable. However, the district
pushed back on his claims that “All Are Welcome” and “Families,
Families, Families!” amount to the “tutorials on the moral equivalency
of one’s gayness that Plaintiff would have this Court believe.” 

The books are “geared toward mere tolerance” and teach children that
schools are welcoming spaces and that some kids may have two fathers or
two mothers, the district said. Further, school officials noted, the
characters in “Families, Families, Families!” are cartoon animals, not
people. 

“Setting aside the fact that these images depict creatures that neither
marry, nor practice religion, nor operate on a system of morals, the
book does not reference gay marriage or hold out same-sex couples or any
other potential family grouping as being morally correct or equivalent
to same-sex marriages,” the district asserted. “It simply holds them out
as…in existence.” 

https://www.boston.com/news/education/2025/11/21/lexington-parent-sues-ov
er-lgbtq-friendly-storybooks-in-schools/