LEXINGTON, MA — Kindergarten lessons about gender and identity have erupted into a legal fight in one of Massachusetts’ most affluent suburbs.

A Lexington father says the district ignored his written request to opt his five-year-old out of classroom material that conflicted with his family’s faith. His complaint was first reported by Massachusetts Informed Parents, a watchdog group that reviewed the district’s 2025–2026 kindergarten social studies curriculum and found Pride-themed content woven into lessons for the youngest students.

According to the group, the curriculum includes the picture book This Day in June — a Pride-parade story featuring drag performers and men in leather harnesses — listed as a read-aloud for kindergarteners. The district allegedly told the father his opt-out letter “lacked specificity,” then proceeded with one of the disputed lessons anyway.

The father is now represented by the American Center for Law and Justice and the Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center, which have sent a formal demand letter to Lexington Public Schools. They accuse the district of violating his parental rights under the Supreme Court’s 2025 Mahmoud v. Taylor ruling, which affirmed that families can opt children out of lessons that conflict with their faith.

Lexington Public Schools has not commented on the case or on the Pride-book lesson flagged by Massachusetts Informed Parents. The dispute has ignited fresh debate over how early Massachusetts schools should introduce topics of gender and identity — and how far parental control should go inside the classroom.