US Supreme Court to weigh in on LGBTQ book controversy in Maryland schools

A prince lassos a dragon, saving a knight in shining armour from certain death. But the prince slips and as he falls, the knight and his steed race to return the favour.

Then the two men fall in love.

That story, Prince and Knight, is one of five children’s books featuring LGBTQ characters and aimed at kindergarten through the fifth grade that have roiled a diverse suburban Maryland school district and led to a US Supreme Court case that the justices will hear on Tuesday.

Parents in Montgomery County who object for religious reasons want to pull their children from junior school classes that use the books.

The county school system has refused and lower courts have so far agreed.

But the outcome could be different at a high court dominated by conservative justices who have repeatedly endorsed claims of religious discrimination in recent years.