AG William Barr Says There Should Be Opt-Outs for LGBTQ Curriculum

Attorney General William Barr wants any school offering LGBTQ curricula to allow opt-outs for all students and families who are anti-LGBTQ.

Speaking at the University of Notre Dame over the weekend, the attorney general appointed by President Donald Trump spoke out against a trend across the U.S. to ensure LGBTQ history is taught in public schools.

"Many states are adopting curriculum that is incompatible with traditional Judeo-Christian principles. ... They often do this without any opt-out provision for religious families," Barr recently said, according to The Hill.

Barr then cited laws in New Jersey, California, and Illinois requiring an LGBTQ curriculum.

"The Orange County Board of Education in California issued an opinion that 'parents who disagree with the instructional material ... may not excuse their children from this instruction,'" he said, lamenting that in some cases parents are not "warned" about the material.

"For anyone who has a religious faith, the most important part of exercising that faith is teaching that religion to your children," he continued. "For the government to interfere in that process is a monstrous invasion of religious liberty."

Barr also says he supports any school that openly discriminates against teachers in a same-sex marriage -- using the example of a teacher who recently sued Indianapolis's Catholic archbishop.

"Right here in Indiana a teacher sued the Catholic archbishop of Indianapolis for directing the Catholic schools within his diocese that they could not employ teachers in same-sex marriages," Barr continued.

"This lawsuit clearly infringes on the First Amendment rights of the archdiocese by interfering both with its expressive association and with its church autonomy."