My statement in response to the Mahmoud v. Taylor decision and dissent

July 1, 2025      

Media contact: Suzanne Trimel, PEN America

 

          The Supreme Court’s decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor will have dire consequences for public education and LGBTQ+ children and families. Allowing parents to remove their children from class on the mere mention of the existence of LGBTQ+ people will stigmatize and harm other children in the class. LGBTQ+ children and families are not something anyone needs to be shielded from. 

We are all human beings, making our way through this world together. Children need to learn about the complex and wonderful country we live in. Public schools, free and available to all children, are part of the foundation of our democracy.

Both the decision and the dissent include many references to my book Uncle Bobby’s Wedding. Writing for the majority, Justice Alito correctly states that the book celebrates the wedding of two people, and that many Americans agree with this. He then says that “other Americans may wish to present a different moral message to their children.” 

I object to Justice Alito’s portrayal of my book as immoral. Same-sex marriage was legal in my state when I wrote Uncle Bobby’s Wedding 20 years ago, and it is legal in the entire U.S. now. My book shows that weddings are something families celebrate and that the members of a family love each other. 

During the oral arguments in April, Justice Alito claimed that Chloe, the child in my book, is unhappy and confused because Uncle Bobby is marrying a man. Justice Sotomayor countered that Chloe is unhappy because she is worried that she will be losing her close relationship with her uncle. 

As the author, I hereby confirm that Justice Sotomayor is correct. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding is a simple story about a family, in which a child fears that her beloved uncle Bobby will be spending less time with her after he gets married. The story would be identical if Bobby was marrying a woman.

In her dissent, Justice Sotomayor correctly says that the decision will create chaos in our nation’s public schools, harming both educators and students, and will allow a small minority of parents to dictate curriculum. She also states that, “Eliminating books depicting LGBTQ individuals as happily accepted by their families will not eliminate student exposure to that concept.”

I wrote Uncle Bobby’s Wedding about a happy extended family in which everyone, including the main character Chloe, loves their gay relative for who he is, without reservations. Surely this is a message that will harm no one and help many. I wish this kind of acceptance and joy for everyone in the LGBTQ+ community.