The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving religious liberty and the rights of Catholic preschools, as it relates to admission policies concerning LGBTQ families. The case, St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, arises from a dispute over the exclusion of a Catholic preschool in Littleton, Colorado, from the state’s universal preschool program. The preschool contends that being required to admit LGBTQ children and those with LGBTQ parents, without an exemption, amounts to religious discrimination under the First Amendment.
Colorado’s conditions for public funding mandate that preschools do not discriminate based on sexual orientation or family structure, applying uniformly across religious and non-religious institutions. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld this requirement, viewing it as a neutral and generally applicable law, following the precedent set by the Supreme Court in the 1990 decision Employment Division v. Smith. While the Supreme Court has chosen not to revisit the Smith decision at this juncture, it will hear arguments on the merits of this particular case.
This case represents an ongoing legal tension between anti-discrimination measures and religious freedom claims. It comes at a time when similar issues are increasingly scrutinized in courts, balancing public non-discrimination policies with religious institutions’ claims for exemptions based on their beliefs. Legal professionals should watch closely, as the outcome could have implications for other cases where religious and anti-discrimination rights intersect in educational settings and beyond.
For further details, you can access the order list from the Supreme Court here.