Justice Clarence Thomas questions lawyers during Oral Arguments for Mahmoud v. Taylor, a case involving LGBTQ+ books in schools.
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00:00Could you spend a minute or two to explain why the record shows that the children are more than merely exposed to these sorts of things in the storybooks?
00:19Yes, Your Honor. I would start with the books themselves. The books themselves teach, for example, that children...
00:24I mean, what I'm talking about is not necessarily what the books say, but rather is that, are the books just there and no more, or are they actually being taught out of the books?
00:38No, we know that the teachers are required to use the books. When the books were first introduced in August of 2022, the board suggested they be used five times before the end of the year.
00:48That's in the, that's at 273A in the CERT appendix. One of the schools, the Sherwood School in June for Pride Month said that they were going to read one book each day to celebrate Pride Month.
01:00The board's own testimony through Superintendent Hazel said that the books must be used as part of the instruction, and that at 642 in the appendix, that discussion will ensue.
01:12That was the entire point of withdrawing the opt-outs and removing, even notifying parents. They're not even allowed to know. The board said in that statement it was so that every student would be taught from the inclusivity storybooks.
01:25And also the district court transcript at 63 has counsel's admission that there have, some of the books have to be used, and it can be more.
01:31However, there are.