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When Asra Nomani, an advocate for children and a self-described “Muslim feminist,” came to my house to record our podcast episode, she brought with her two piles of books. Many of those books are a part of the new literary curriculum in Montgomery County, Maryland. 

The stack included toddler board books like “Pride Puppy,” “Bye Bye, Binary,” and “The Gay B Cs.” There were other titles aimed at elementary and middle school students, like “Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness,” and the soft-core porn graphic novel “Gender Queer.”

“This is part of a culture of indoctrination,” said Nomani.

Last month, Muslim parents, Ethiopian Christians, and Peruvian Catholics gathered to protest outside of a Montgomery County Public School Board meeting. They carried signs saying “Restore Opt-Out Now!” and “Family Rights.” Nomani stood with them.

Nomani is from such a family herself. As a child, she immigrated to the United States from India with her parents. She was raised in a traditional Muslim household. Now, at 58, after navigating the hardships of single parenthood, working as a journalist at the Wall Street Journal, and writing her latest book, Woke Army: The Red-Green Alliance That is Destroying America’s Freedom, she’s fighting alongside observant Muslim families in Montgomery County for the right to opt their children out of a new LGBTQ+ literary curriculum. 

Nomani had me flip through several of the books she brought while recording the podcast.