Today, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy. The case asks whether religious preschools that take taxpayer funds through Colorado’s Universal Preschool Program can deny enrollment to children because their parents are LGBTQ+.
Colorado offers free preschool to every family in the state through public and private providers, including religious schools. Providers that accept state funds, religious and secular alike, agree to give every family an equal opportunity to enroll. Two parishes and the Archdiocese of Denver want the funding without that requirement, even though their schools never applied to take part in the program. They argue the rule violates their religious freedom. To receive state funds, they would be held to the same nondiscrimination rule as every other participating preschool. Both the federal district court and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled for Colorado.
While some of the justices appeared ready to accept the petitioners’ invitation to upend the established framework for challenges to publicly funded programs by religious organizations, others clearly recognized the importance of Colorado’s commitment to ensuring that all state-funded preschools do not engage in discrimination against children with LGBTQ parents.
Lambda Legal and GLAD Law filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Colorado.
“When the state pays schools to provide preschool programming, the schoolhouse door must be open to every family. While religious schools can set their own admissions criteria when they are privately funded, every school, religious or secular, that chooses to take taxpayer dollars is barred from discriminating in violation of Colorado law,” said Karen Loewy, Senior Counsel and Director of Constitutional Law Practice at Lambda Legal. “No four-year-old should be turned away from a taxpayer-funded classroom because of who their parents are, including children of LGBTQ parents. Colorado’s requirements simply make sure public money isn’t used to discriminate, and the Constitution has long allowed states to set that condition.”
What’s at Stake
Colorado created its universal preschool program so every child could access quality pre-kindergarten education. A ruling for the petitioners would deny the children of LGBTQ+ parents equal opportunity to gain that early learning, holding them back on their educational journey and telling them that their family is unworthy of equal treatment. It would also harm parents trying to set their children up for educational success.
The petitioners are asking the Court to change how it reviews religious challenges to conditions on public funding. A ruling in their favor could reach far beyond Colorado preschools. It could invite discrimination on the government’s dime in a range of publicly funded contexts, from schools to health care to social services. But the Court’s precedents make clear that states can require all participants in government-funded programs to comply with neutral non-discrimination rules so long as they apply the same way to secular and religious participants.
This case does not touch religious schools’ right to teach what they want–their acceptance of public funding doesn’t change that—but no school, secular or religious, can take taxpayer money and deny a child enrollment in violation of Colorado law.
Lambda Legal and GLAD Law’s brief argues that the Court’s existing doctrine already answers the questions in this case. It also argues that Colorado has a compelling interest in protecting children of LGBTQ+ parents from the discrimination they already face in school settings and the harm it causes. When a state funds private organizations to deliver public services, it has an obligation not to be complicit in discrimination, especially against young children.
A decision is expected by the end of June 2027.
Click here for more information about St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy: https://lambdalegal.org/case/st-mary-catholic-parish-v-roy/
Read Lambda Legal and GLAD Law’s brief here: https://lambdalegal.org/legal_document/st-mary_us_20260824_amicus-brief/