Recently, the Maryland General Assembly introduced a controversial bill that has caused a debate across the state: Should parents have the right to opt their children out of a public school’s gender identity lessons?¹

In February, Delegates Vanessa Atterbeary and Kris Fair introduced HB 161 to create a uniform health education curriculum in public schools.² HB 161 included instructions on gender identity and sexual orientation, particularly removing parents’ ability to opt their children out of these lessons.³ Currently, lessons on gender identity are taught under the family life and human sexuality curriculum in public schools.⁴ However, under HB 161, gender identity lessons would be removed from the family life and human sexuality section, so it would no longer qualify for an opt-out, meaning parents will not have the choice to determine if their child participates in the lessons.⁵ The House passed the bill with a 95-39 vote.⁶

The passage of the bill in the House caused a strong reaction among parents in Maryland.⁷ A mother of three children in Carroll County Public Schools stated that such a law would “violate [her] parental rights.”⁸ Some school boards, such as the Howard County Public School Board, have expressed that HB 161 “limits local board decision-making authority” and “weakens the Board’s bond with the local community.”⁹ Delegate Atterbeary supported her bill, stating that the purpose of the bill is to “make sure all of our children feel included [and represented] when they attend school.”¹⁰

Despite Delegate Atterbeary’s attempt to eliminate parental opt-out from gender identity lessons, the Maryland legislature felt the pressure to oppose the bill. On April 4, 2025, the Maryland Senate amended the bill, keeping the current parental opt-out standard in place.¹¹ HB 161 was rewritten to ensure local districts follow the current statewide framework.¹² Senator Washington emphasized that HB 161 simply reiterates that the Maryland law ensures students have “high quality standard-based education regardless of what school they attend.”¹³

The amendment and passage of HB 161 marks a significant win for parental rights advocates. This moment also reflects the broader, ongoing battle between public education and parental control. Today’s classrooms have become the new battleground for cultural and political discourse. As Maryland and the rest of the country address these complex questions, the voices of parents, educators, and students alike will continue to shape what the future of public education looks like, as it did in rejecting HB 161.

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Evagevelly (Eva) Posadas is a 2025 graduate from the University of Baltimore School of Law and was formerly an Associate Editor for Law Forum. She received her bachelor’s degree in Law and American Civilization from Towson University. Eva has experience in family law and immigration law, having interned at multiple family law firms and served as a student attorney at the school’s Immigrant Rights Clinic. She was also the secretary for the school’s Latin American Law Student Association. Since graduating, Eva is a law clerk for the Honorable Mary Kramer in the Circuit Court of Howard County.

¹ See H.B. 161, 446th Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Md. 2024); Patrick Hauf, Parents Slam Maryland Bill that Removes Opt Outs on Gender Identity Lessons, FOX 45 NEWS (Feb. 19, 2025, 5:24 PM), https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/parents-slam-maryland-bill-that-removes-opt-outs-on-gender- identity-lessons.

² H.B. 161, 446th Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Md. 2024).

³ Id.; Hauf, supra note 1.

⁴ Hauf, supra note 1.

⁵ Id.

⁶ Id.

⁷ See id.

⁸ Id.

⁹ Id.

¹⁰ Hauf, supra note 4.

¹¹ Patrick Hauf, Maryland Lawmakers Resolve Debate Over Parental Choice on Gender Identity Lessons, FOX 45 NEWS (Apr. 4, 2025, 3:25 PM), https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/maryland-lawmakers-resolve-debate- over-parent-opt-out-for-gender-identity-lessons; see also Ryan Dickstein, Maryland Senate Revamps House Bill, Keeping Parents Right to Opt Student Out of Gender ID Classes, WMAR2NEWS (Apr. 6, 2025, 3:20 PM), https://www.wmar2news.com/infocus/maryland-senate-revamps-house-bill-keeping- parents-right-to-opt-students-out-of-gender-id-classes.

¹² Hauf, supra note 11.

¹³ Id.