A federal judge last week granted a 10-day restraining order barring the Montgomery County, Md., public schools from teaching a new sex education curriculum.
U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr., in Greenbelt, Md., ruled that the curriculum opens the classroom to the subject of homosexuality, but “presents only one view on the subject—that homosexuality is a natural and morally correct lifestyle—to the exclusion of other perspectives.”
The May 5 ruling against the 140,000-student district was a victory for two groups that argue the curriculum violates both parents’ and students’ rights under the First and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit was filed by Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, a local nonprofit group, and Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, a national group based in Alexandria, Va.
The district had planned to begin field-testing the curriculum in six pilot schools last week.
In a statement, Superintendent Jerry D. Weast said he had suspended the program and ordered a review of the teaching materials.