A legal fight over religious freedom and LGBTQ+ rights has reached the U.S. Supreme Court, where justices are deciding whether Catholic preschools can be excluded from a publicly funded education program in Colorado because they do not admit children of same-sex parents.
The Donald Trump administration has joined the Archdiocese of Denver in challenging a lower-court ruling that upheld Colorado’s decision to require participating schools to comply with state anti-discrimination rules, per a news report.
Catholic institutions say the requirements violate their constitutional right to practice their religion.
At the heart of this is St. Mary Catholic Parish and several other Catholic preschools in Denver Archdiocese. Admission policies require families to agree with certain church teachings, including its position on same-sex marriage, so some children whose parents are LGBTQ+ can’t enroll.
Colorado said institutions receiving public money must meet the same non-discrimination standards as other schools in the program. The state added that religious institutions should be welcome in the program if they meet eligibility conditions.
What Both Sides Are Arguing
The Archdiocese said its admission criteria are based on Catholic religious teaching and that excluding its schools from the publicly funded program discriminates against religious institutions.
Nicholas Reaves, the archdiocese’s lawyer, said allowing Catholic preschools to participate would increase options for families, not decrease opportunities elsewhere.
“This is not a zero-sum game,” Reaves said to the court, noting that allowing parents to use preschool funds at Catholic institutions wouldn’t take away places from other schools participating in the program.
The state said, however, that the issue isn’t whether religious schools can teach their beliefs but whether they can receive public money while refusing to admit children because of their parents’ sexual orientation.
Helen Norton, an attorney for Colorado, said faith-based institutions can continue teaching their religious positions on marriage, gender and sexuality as long as they meet the program’s admission requirements.
She also said families shouldn’t lose access to a publicly funded school because of their protected status.
Supreme Court Justices Questioned Both Arguments
Oral arguments showed that justices disagreed on how to balance religious freedom against anti-discrimination protections.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked whether schools could say that was their position and they would not reject children because their parents are in same-sex relationships. She also questioned the broader implications of giving religious exemptions to generally applicable laws.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh also worried about what he called a “clash of rights” between religious institutions and LGBTQ+ families and whether the state could accommodate both sides without forcing Catholic schools to give up their religious principles.
The dispute also referred back to Supreme Court decisions on public funding of religious schools. The court has said before that religious institutions cannot be automatically excluded from certain publicly funded education programs because of their religious character.
But the Colorado case raised a different question of whether religious schools can ask for an exemption from anti-discrimination conditions attached to public funding.
Why This Case Matters for Parents
The outcome could have implications for families choosing publicly funded preschool programs, especially same-sex parents.
Colorado launched its universal preschool program after a 2020 ballot measure. Parents can choose schools participating in the program and get public funding for early childhood education.
The Catholic preschools involved in the dispute said enrolment has fallen by 20 percent since the program started and that their religious identity should not stop them from receiving the same public benefits as other schools.
Now the court is considering arguments. No final ruling has been announced.
