The Supreme Court ruled last June that schools must let parents opt their kids out of LGBTQ lessons.
Now a Washington music teacher did exactly what the Supreme Court just said schools cannot do.
And when this mom found out what her fourth-grader watched in music class – without a single word to parents – she made a decision that has the entire Edmonds School District scrambling.
What the Music Teacher Showed Fourth-Graders Without Telling Anyone
Maria Varchetto's daughter came home from Martha Lake Elementary School on June 15 and described what she'd seen in music class that day.
No email had come home.
No permission slip.
No option to opt out.
The teacher had shown the class a YouTube video called "Why is Pride in June" from a channel called "Queer Kid Stuff" – which describes itself as "LGBTQ+ education for children ages 3+" hosted by "a tie-wearing queer lady and her non-binary best-stuffed friend, Teddy."
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Varchetto's daughter told her that students had been taught they could identify as gay, lesbian, transgender, asexual, nonbinary, or Two-Spirit.
The lesson also included a list of LGBTQ+ musicians and a clip of Billy Porter dancing in a ballgown on Sesame Street.
"I assumed I had probably missed an email asking for consent," Varchetto told Fox News Digital, "but there was nothing."
The School's Response Made Everything Worse
Varchetto did what any reasonable parent would do.
She contacted the school.
She asked for a copy of the lesson materials.
The school told her those materials could only be reviewed in person – not sent electronically.
Then she learned something that made her blood boil.
The school distributed a monthly calendar of cultural lessons – one topic per month. June was left off the list entirely.
She also says a school administrator owned up to not knowing those specific topics had been covered in class – raising a darker question about what else the lesson included beyond what Varchetto was eventually shown.
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"I feel mad they did this, mad they hid it," Varchetto said. "I feel insulted, offended, angry, and sad that my kids are now being taken out of a lifestyle they've grown to love, away from the friendships they've built, all because this one teacher didn't care to ask permission and a principal lied and hid it."
She pulled both of her children from Martha Lake Elementary.
The Edmonds School District issued a statement claiming the lesson "was not part of a districtwide Pride curriculum" and that the music teacher built it around "the contributions of influential musicians, including some who identify as LGBTQ+."
The district called any identity discussion mere "biographical context."
That explanation doesn't pass the smell test.
You don't forget to put Pride month on the cultural lesson calendar by accident.
This Is Exactly What the Supreme Court Said Cannot Happen
One year ago, the Supreme Court handed down a 6-3 ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor that directly applies to what happened at Martha Lake Elementary.
The case came out of Maryland, where a school district introduced LGBTQ+ storybooks into the elementary curriculum and then cut off parent notification and opt-outs when too many families tried to use them.
Justice Alito, writing for the majority, held that blocking parents from pulling their young children out of this instruction "substantially interferes with the religious development of their children."
Washington State's response? Effectively ignoring it.
State law in Washington – specifically SB 5462 – mandates that LGBTQ+ content be embedded across every subject and every grade, with no opt-out provision.
Seattle Public Schools has told families explicitly that instruction touching LGBTQ+ identity, pronouns, and Pride history can happen at any grade level with no prior notice required.
What happened to Maria Varchetto's daughter wasn't a rogue teacher making a bad call.
It was the system working exactly as the state of Washington designed it.
The Trump administration has opened dozens of investigations into school districts over similar failures to respect parental rights – including, according to Fox News, four Title IX probes into Michigan and North Carolina districts earlier this year.
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Two days ago – July 28 – the Education Department announced new investigations into a Washington state school district and Denver Public Schools, tied to National Parents' Day enforcement actions.
Edmonds School District isn't under investigation yet.
It should be.
Parents in Washington state trusted government schools with their children.
A teacher made a deliberate choice to show gender ideology videos to nine-year-olds and leave the lesson off the monthly calendar.
When the district got caught, they called it "biographical context."
Maria Varchetto saw through it immediately.
The question is how many other parents across Washington are still waiting for an email that was never coming.
Sources:
- Rachel del Guidice, "Washington mother pulls children from school after Pride lesson shown in music class without notice," Fox News, July 30, 2026.
- Mahmoud v. Taylor, 606 U.S. 522, Supreme Court of the United States, June 27, 2025.
- "No Opt-Out: WA Schools Mandate LGBTQ Curriculum Across All Subjects," Conservative Ladies of Washington, September 5, 2025.
- "Trump Officials Launch Probe of 2 School Districts Over Alleged Testosterone Vials, Kissing Exercise," Fox News, July 28, 2026.