SEATTLE (LifeSiteNews) — Seattle Public Schools said parents are not allowed to opt their kids out of “LGBTQ-inclusive instruction,” which includes teaching kindergarten students about transgenderism.
While parents can request an opt-out from “Comprehensive Sexual Health Education,” this does not include other pro-LGBT content.
“Instruction about [so-called] LGBTQ identities provided for purposes such as bullying prevention, or safe and welcoming environments, is not part of CSHE and thus not subject to an opt-out provision,” the public schools website states.
Seattle Public Schools also states:
There is no option to “opt students out” of learning about particular identities or groups of people. This guidance is reinforced by OSPI (state superintendent’s office), the policies of other major urban districts (including the states of California and New York), and the outcomes of federal cases around the country. We celebrate all students in SPS.
Schools are supposed to allow for opt-outs following a Supreme Court ruling this summer in Mahmoud v. Taylor, according to Defending Education. The case centered around whether Muslim, Catholic, Jewish, and other parents can request exemptions for their kids from attending classes with sexualized curriculum.
“A government burdens the religious exercise of parents when it requires them to submit their children to instruction that poses ‘a very real threat of undermining’ the religious beliefs and practices that the parents wish to instill,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion. “And a government cannot condition the benefit of free public education on parents’ acceptance of such instruction.”
Sarah Perry, a legal scholar with Defending Education, explained the importance of the June ruling, saying it “should act as a directive to every American school district: notify parents of controversial material, and provide them the opportunity to opt their children out – especially if you provide opt-outs for other curriculum or other reasons, but exclude opt-outs for religious objections.”
The group offers a sample opt-out form for parents.
“It is the right of religious parents to opt their children out of this type of sex and gender-focused curriculum – regardless of when and where it is introduced during the school day,” Perry, with the parental rights group, wrote in her analysis.
The group’s President Nicki Neily weighed in specifically on this controversy, stating: “Parents have the right to guide their children’s exposure to lessons on gender and sexuality. SPS seems to have missed that memo.”
Parents have the right to guide their children’s exposure to lessons on gender and sexuality. SPS seems to have missed that memo. https://t.co/g7ToddYfoW
— Nicki Neily (@nickineily) September 5, 2025
But Seattle Public Schools is taking a different approach, mandating parents subject their kids to its pro-transgender ideology. Official state guidance is that kids as young as kindergarten should be taught about “gender identity.”
“Unless a school is working openly with a family to support a [so-called] transgender student, conversations about gender identity are not common in early elementary classrooms,” the guidance states. “However, having these conversations can support students who may not yet be open about their identity and can promote both safety and empathy.”
Kindergarteners, according to materials posted by the district, should “[u]nderstand that there are many ways to express gender.” They will do so through the book “Introducing Teddy.”
“Introducing Teddy introduces the youngest readers to understanding gender identity and transition in an accessible and heart-warming story about being true to yourself and being a good friend,” the provided description states.
In the book, the teddy bear tells his friend: “In my heart, I’ve always known that I’m a girl teddy, not a boy teddy. I wish my name was Tilly, not Thomas,” and the friend affirms that belief.
First graders, meanwhile, read “My Princess Boy,” about “a young boy who likes to dress up in girls’ dresses.” The theme of boys cross-dressing continues into second grade, when students read a different book called “Jacob’s New Dress.”
The opposition to parents’ legal rights drew criticism online.
“Parents need to sue,” commentator Brandi Kruse wrote on X.
“Parental authority doesn’t end when the school bell rings each day, but Seattle Public Schools seems to think it does,” Alleigh Marré of the American Parents Coalition wrote on X. “SPS’s required ‘curriculum’ is just an attempt to force radical gender ideology onto children without parental consent.”
