{"id":229711,"date":"2026-11-04T08:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T08:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-supreme-court-questions-arguments-in-catholic-preschools-lgbtq-exclusion-case-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T08:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T08:52:10","slug":"us-supreme-court-questions-arguments-in-catholic-preschools-lgbtq-exclusion-case-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/us-supreme-court-questions-arguments-in-catholic-preschools-lgbtq-exclusion-case-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"US supreme court questions arguments in Catholic preschools\u2019 LGBTQ+ exclusion case – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

A decision could reshape the relationship between religious freedom and nondiscrimination laws in the US
The US supreme court heard arguments on Tuesday over a challenge brought by two Catholic preschools in Colorado<\/a>, arguing that they should be admitted to the state\u2019s free education system despite their rejection of children with LGBTQ+<\/a> parents.
A decision in the case, St Mary Catholic Parish v Roy<\/a>, could reshape the relationship between religious freedom and nondiscrimination laws in the US.
The Catholic preschools claim<\/a> that they have been shut out of a 2023 state funding program that provides 15 hours per week of state-funded preschool and want the same benefits extended to them. Colorado says <\/strong>that the schools \u201cremain welcome to participate in\u201d the program but only if they agree to the same equal-opportunity requirements that apply to all other publicly funded preschools\u2013public and private, secular and religious\u201d.
But to join the program, Colorado<\/a> says, the schools must consent to \u201cprovide eligible children an equal opportunity to enroll and receive preschool services regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, lack of housing, income level, or disability\u201d.
The plaintiffs argue that making funding contingent on accepting that agreement amounts to unlawful religious discrimination under the first amendment guaranteeing religious freedoms.
The case \u2013 in essence, a clash between religious freedom and nondiscrimination laws \u2013 has been making its way up the court system. A lower appeals court ruled for the state but acknowledged that the highest court had previously held that states \u201ccannot categorically withhold those funds from religious institutions\u201d.
In the lower court\u2019s view, the rulings do not apply to the current case because Colorado \u201cdid not exclude\u201d religious preschools from its funding program and had \u201cwelcomed and actively solicited their participation\u201d.
The archdiocese claims that the state allows participating preschools \u201cto discriminate in favor of LGBTQ families and other groups\u201d, such as \u201cgender-nonconforming children\u201d, \u201cchildren of color\u201d or members of \u201cthe LGBTQ community\u201d.
Nicholas Reaves, counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a firm that litigates religious liberty cases, told the National Catholic Reporter <\/a>that Colorado had \u201cdenied families \u2026 the ability to use that funding at Catholic preschools, simply because those preschools have religious beliefs the state doesn\u2019t like\u201d.
In oral arguments on Tuesday, Reaves said the schools \u201cask all families who enroll to be open to and supportive of the church\u2019s teachings. Because of this sincere religious exercise, the state has denied Colorado families the ability to use universal preschool funding at Catholic schools.\u201d
Politico reported<\/a> that the court\u2019s conservative justices appeared sympathetic, with justice Neil Gorsuch asking whether the justices had been \u201cwasting our time for the last 10 years\u201d on three cases that addressed similar constitutional questions around religious freedoms. But the three liberal justices on the bench sounded skeptical of the discrimination claim.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked how the court should consider the fact that some Catholic preschools were already participating in the programs.
Justice Elena Kagan appeared unwilling to accept that the state implemented its \u201cneutral anti-discrimination principle\u201d with the intention of discriminating against religious schools; and justice Sonia Sotomayor said the Catholic schools \u201care not being excluded on their face … they\u2019re choosing not to participate because they won\u2019t get an exemption. So this is their choice.\u201d
In an amicus brief<\/a> submitted to the court, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops argues that Colorado had disqualified the preschools \u201csolely because of their adherence to Catholic doctrine\u201d.
The lower court\u2019s decision, the conference said, \u201cwill embolden other states and municipalities to discriminate against religious adherents\u2019 rights by enacting ostensibly neutral statutes that discriminate in fact\u201d.
If allowed to stand, it added, \u201cthe resulting harm to the nation\u2019s social support infrastructure would be immense\u201d.<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A decision could reshape the relationship between religious freedom and nondiscrimination laws in the USThe US supreme court heard arguments on Tuesday over a challenge brought by two Catholic preschools in Colorado, arguing that they should be admitted to the state\u2019s free education system despite their rejection of children with LGBTQ+ parents.A decision in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":229712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-229711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229711"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229711\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}