The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear a case from Colorado that poses a thorny challenge. Should Catholic preschools that receive public funds be allowed to exclude students from LGBT families?
Ann Schimke of Chalkbeat reports:
The families of 4-year-olds in Colorado’s state-funded preschool program can choose from dozens of religious preschools, alongside hundreds of other public and private options.
But participating preschools have to agree not to discriminate, including on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
That was a problem for two Catholic preschools in the Denver suburbs. They said admitting gay or transgender children, or children with gay or transgender parents, would conflict with their Catholic beliefs on sex and gender. The parishes that ran the preschools sued, rather than agree to Colorado’s non-discrimination rules.
The dispute will soon be heard by the conservative-dominated U.S. Supreme Court, the latest in a series of cases challenging traditional understandings of church-state separation. Oral arguments in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy are set for Nov. 3. The court’s decision could have implications well beyond Colorado.
Between publicly funded preschool programsand state voucher programs, more public money than ever before is flowing to private religious schools. This case asks whether states can put conditions on that public money to ensure all students have access or whether doing so infringes on the First Amendment rights of religious schools.
Don’t know why they bother. This Court will be just fine with religious bigotry.
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How are they screening parents and families for other conflicting “beliefs” and behaviors, such as pre-marital sex, divorce, cussing, and “sin” in general?
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How do they screen for transgender women: personal inspection of genitals?
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The more fundamental question is why Catholic schools, or any religious school, receive public funding in violation of the Constitution’s Establishment Clause. In Everson v. Board of Education (1947), the U.S. Supreme Court rendered its most clear declaration against public tax money going to fund religious schools, ruling that “Neither a state nor the federal government can…pass laws which aid one religion…[or]…all religions.”
By the way, I’m a practicing Catholic and attended Catholic school all the way through college. Any religious school that receives public funding must at least be required to operate like a public school: No teaching of religion and be subject to all the nondiscrimination and other laws, including financial reporting, that public schools are subject to.
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The Supreme Crock believes that everyone has the constitutional right to believe like they do.
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“They said admitting gay or transgender children, or children with gay or transgender parents, would conflict with their Catholic beliefs on sex and gender.”
Will “they” ever learn that God the Universe doesn’t do discreteness. That it’s totally on us and the mental models we create and share? GTU only does variation, and always along continuums. Openly, right in our collective face. Yet, “they” don’t see it, or just plain refuse to see it. Intersex Awareness Day 2026 took place last Monday. Let’s hope such awareness continues to help us all see.
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