A father who sued a local school district over kindergarten books with LGBTQ characters cannot opt his son out of lessons about “gender stereotypes.”

That’s according to a Massachusetts federal judge, who recently ruled in favor of Lexington Public Schools when it comes to two books in the kindergarten curriculum.

The case covers a parent’s constitutional right to opt their child out of certain classroom materials on the First Amendment grounds that they conflict with his religious beliefs.

The Boston federal judge, F. Dennis Saylor IV, last year granted a preliminary injunction for the “devout Christian” father, Alan L., whose 5-year-old son J.L. attends kindergarten in Lexington.

The judge ordered that the school district and Joseph Estabrook Elementary School “make reasonable efforts to ensure that J.L. is not taught or otherwise exposed to all Other LGBTQ+ Educational Materials identified by plaintiff, whether in the classroom or any other school setting.”

As part of that ruling, the father needed to list all of the books that he wanted his son kept away from.

The school district in response argued that two books should not be listed under LGBTQ educational materials, and the judge this week ruled in support of the district.

“Defendants (school officials) contend that the books are outside the scope of the injunction because they relate only to gender stereotypes, not issues of gender identity or other matters related to ‘LGBTQ+ characters, relationships, or activities,’ ” the federal ruling reads.

“Accordingly… defendants are not required to provide an opportunity for plaintiff to opt his child out of classroom instruction using the books Pink Is For Boys by Robb Pearlman and Except When They Don’t by Laura Gehl,” the judge wrote.

Pink Is For Boys features a series of pages that state a given color — “pink,” “blue,” “yellow,” “green,” “red,” “purple,” “brown,” “black,” and “white” — “is for girls. And boys.” The pages have images of a girl and boy taking part in the same activity — playing baseball, running in a forest, and setting up a popsicle stand.

Except When They Don’t features illustrations of young boys and girls taking part in stereotypically gender-appropriate activities, such as “Boys play monster trucks with glee. Girls bake cakes and serve hot tea. Girls like pom-poms, pink, and jewels. Boys like fighting pirate duels.” Then, after listing several similar activities, there’s a page that reads, “Except when they don’t,” with an illustration of a boy or girl doing what’s stereotypically considered the opposite gender’s preferred activity.

The judge noted that the father was suing over issues of gender identity, sexuality, and gay rights — not gender stereotyping.

“… Because the book teaches about gender stereotypes, not gender identity, it does not violate plaintiff’s religious faith, as defined in the complaint, and therefore falls outside the scope of the preliminary injunction,” the judge wrote.

The attorneys representing Lexington Public Schools said this ruling shows that parents “do not have carte blanche when seeking opt-outs for religious reasons.”

“Second, it distinguishes curricular materials that address gender stereotypes—a topic often conflated with LGBTQ+ issues—from those that address gender identity,” Alexandra ‘Sasha’ Gill and Douglas Louison, of Louison, Costello, Condon & Pfaff, LLP, said in a statement. “The LGBTQ+ acronym is inherently vague and, as a result, subject to overly broad interpretation by objectors like the parent in this case.

“The judge’s decision underscores the fact that opt-out requests need only be granted when the identified materials directly conflict with parents’ stated beliefs,” the lawyers added. “Overly broad opt-out requests like the one made by this parent expose some of the practical implications of implementing Mahmoud in the public-school setting, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

The Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center has been representing the father.

“This lawsuit has forced LPS to opt our client’s child out of over a dozen books that clearly violate his religious beliefs on sexuality and gender identity,” said Sam Whiting, counsel at Massachusetts Liberty Legal Center. “The court’s recent order allows the school to use two books on gender expression with our client’s child but, importantly, does not modify the substance of its holding that our client has a constitutional right to opt out of LGBTQ+ curriculum materials.”