(RNS) — Montgomery County, Maryland, north of Washington, is a Democratic stronghold, having gone for Vice President Kamala Harris by 53 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election. But some religious parents in the county are holding out hope that President-elect Donald Trump, and his opposition to what he has labeled the “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion bureaucracy,” will save their public school system.
“One of the main responsibilities of the president is to uphold constitutional rights for regular citizens of the United States,” said Wael Elkoshairi, a Muslim parent who unenrolled his daughter from her Montgomery County public school this year. “We’re not interested in personality politics. We’re really interested in people who can defend our rights to raise our children the way we want.”
With a large number of first- and second-generation immigrants residing in this community of just over a million people, Montgomery County residents have been locked in a contentious debate on how gender and sexuality should be taught in public schools, with many religious parents swinging right, standing against curriculum changes that introduce LGBTQ subject matter to elementary age students.
Under a 2022 policy change, “Diverse and Inclusive Instructional Materials” became a mandatory part of Montgomery County Public Schools’ K-8 curriculum. Previously, parents were allowed to opt out of the material on behalf of their children.
People demonstrate outside the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education, July 23, 2023, in Rockville, Md. (RNS photo/Reina Coulibaly)
Elkoshairi, a leader in the movement to restore the right to opt out, said the point is not to deprive those parents who want their children to be taught the inclusive materials, which include lessons on “the aspirations, issues, and achievements of women, persons with disabilities, persons from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, as well as persons of diverse gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation,” according to the board of education’s policy.
“We’re not talking about changing the curriculum. We’re saying … we want this small accommodation for the …