Denver-area organizations say the stance, which makes them ineligible for state universal pre-K funding, is unconstitutional.
The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday that it will hear a case brought by the Archdiocese of Denver and other Catholic preschools that object to the state refusing to fund their programs because they reject the children of LGBTQ people. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI. | License Photo
The Supreme Court will review a lawsuit brought by the Archdiocese of Denver and area Catholic parishes that claim their ineligibility for Colorado universal pre-kindergarten funding because they do not accept the children of LGBTQ couples is unconstitutional.
The suit alleged that Catholic preschools should be exempt from non-discrimination rules that bar schools participating in the program from rejecting children because of sexual orientation or gender identity of either the student or their parents, NBC News and The Washington Post reported.
Colorado has since 2022 offered universal preschool to children living in the state through community-based, school-based and licensed home providers at least 15 hours per week of tuition-free preschool for their year before kindergarten, according to the Colorado Department of Early Childhood’s website.
Nationwide, 46 states and Washington, D.C., offer some level of taxpayer-funded pre-school to residents, the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University found in its 2024 “State of Preschool” report.
“Why the exclusion?” the Catholic groups’ lawyers wrote in their request for the Supreme Court to consider the case.
“Because Colorado says these preschools’ religious practice of admitting only families who support Catholic teachings, including on sex and gender, is ‘discrimination,'” they wrote.
The parishes contend that there is no difference between schools being permitted to give priority to low-income families and children with disabilities and their rejection of LGBTQ families based on their interpretation of Catholic teaching — which courts in Colorado have disagreed with.
“Although the equal-opportunity requirement allows providers to specifically serve low-income families and children with disabilities, it does not grant the Department the authority or discretion to exempt providers from complying with the requirement,” U.S. District Judge John L. Cane said in a 2024 ruling.
The archdiocese, which runs 34 schools in the Denver area, said that the state and courts have violated its religious rights under the First Amendment that protects religious belief.
