As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments today in Mahmoud v. Taylor, Penguin Random House, the Authors Guild, and the Educational Book and Media Association (EBMA) announced that they had jointly submitted a friend-of-the court brief April 9 in support of the Montgomery County, Md., school district at the center of the case.

The case began in 2023 when a coalition of parents from Montgomery County filed a lawsuit which contended that requiring their children to participate in instruction that includes LGBTQ+ themes, rather than letting them opt out, violates their religious beliefs and thus their First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion.

In its brief, the coalition emphasizes that a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs would chill the incentive to publish books that do not conform to religious orthodoxies, narrowing the range of literature available to students. The brief also argues that that allowing parents to opt out of books based on religious objections would also restrict students’ access to diverse perspectives and experiences.

Among the books cited in the case are the Penguin Random House titles My Rainbow by DeShanna and Trinity Neal and illustrated by Art Twink (Kokila) and Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope by Jodie Patterson and illustrated by Charnelle Pinkney Barlow (Crown Books for Young Readers).

“We are proud to publish a wide range of books reflecting many viewpoints, and we stand with our authors,” PRH VP and associate general counsel Dan Novack said in a statement. “We ask the Supreme Court to recognize the expertise of professional educators and allow students to see themselves and their neighbors in books.”

Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild, argued that rather than these stories overriding a child’s own beliefs, “they prepare them for the reality that they’ll share classrooms, communities, and workplaces with people from all walks of life. That’s not indoctrination—it’s essential education.”