A California dad is taking legal action after claiming his children's school district won't allow him to opt his kids out of lessons that violate their sincerely held religious beliefs. "Carlos and Jenny Encinas’ children attended an elementary school in Encinitas, California, where their 11-year-old’s teacher read a book and required activities that conflict with their sincerely held religious beliefs," reads a description from First Liberty, a religious freedom law firm. "After reading the book, the Encinas’ son was forced to watch a video version with a five-year-old as part of a 'mentoring' program."
Carlos Encinas told CBN News his battle with La Costa Heights Elementary School in the Encinitas Union School District began when his son came home and started sharing about his day. "He said, 'It was just really weird dad,'" Encinas said. "I said, 'Well, what do you mean weird?" That's when his son shared that he was "forced" to take part in a read-along surrounding the book "My Shadow is Pink" as part of a mentoring program. "Our ... elementary school, they pair the 5th graders with the kindergartners and they spend about an hour a week together doing different things," Encinas said. "Usually, it's out on the playground or reading books that the 5-year-old kindergartners choose, and it's a great program."
After Encinas started to look up "My Shadow is Pink," he said he was immediately concerned, especially considering the purported nature of the buddy program — one in which he said "they're helping to disseminate a very controversial, complex topic to a smaller younger brother [or] younger sister." "I quickly realized that this book was centered around gender ideology," he said. "And I was pretty upset about it, and he was already upset about it." The family reportedly reached out to the teacher and the school to discuss the matter. At first, Encinas claims he was told the activity didn't have to do with gender ideology. Here's what happened next.
