US supreme court to hear arguments in Catholic preschools’ LGBTQ+ exclusion case
Also reported by PBS NewsHour
Summary
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in St Mary Catholic Parish v Roy, a case brought by two Catholic preschools in Colorado that seek access to a state-funded preschool program. Colorado says the schools can participate if they follow equal-opportunity enrollment rules; the schools argue that this condition violates their religious-freedom rights.Key Facts
- Colorado’s program provides 15 hours per week of state-funded preschool.
- The state requires participating preschools to offer eligible children equal access regardless of characteristics including sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, race, income, or disability.
- The two preschools say the state has denied them program benefits because they reject children with LGBTQ+ parents.
- A lower appeals court ruled in favor of Colorado, finding that the state welcomed religious preschools to participate subject to the same rules as other providers.
- The preschools argue that conditioning funding on compliance with the rules amounts to religious discrimination under the First Amendment.
- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops filed a brief supporting the preschools and said the state had disqualified them for following Catholic doctrine.
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