Mary Catholic Parish school are decorated with Adam-and-Eve-themed apple prints and a colorful mural depicting Jesus’ life as a child. Inside the preschool classroom is a prayer table with a rosary and puzzle pieces shaped like the symbols of Catholicism. Parents who send their 4-year-olds to the school a few miles south of Denver feel strongly about educating their children in the Catholic faith — but they also say the state of Colorado should pay for it.
And that has led to a clash that will reach the Supreme Court on Tuesday. A state program allows private preschools to get taxpayer funding, but those preschools are required to provide children an “equal opportunity” to enroll, including the children of gay and transgender parents. The Archdiocese of Denver argues that the requirement is at odds with its religious mission — and its members’ First Amendment rights.
The archdiocese, parish and parents have sued Colorado, setting up the latest battle at the Supreme Court testing whether religious objections can override government prohibitions against discrimination. The conservative-dominated bench has issued a series of recent decisions expanding the role of religion in public life, continuing a signature project of the court led by Chief Justice John G. Father James de Cendra is the principal of the St.
Mary Catholic Parish preschool.Credit...Chet Strange for The New York Times Religious groups almost always prevail before the current Supreme Court. In 2021, the court ruled unanimously that a Catholic social services agency in Philadelphia could defy city rules and refuse to work with same-sex couples who apply to take in foster children. The next year, in a case from Maine, the court said that states that choose to subsidize private schools may not exclude or discriminate against religious ones.
In the Colorado case, however, lower courts have said the state “welcomed and actively solicited” the participation of faith-based preschools after voters approved a universal prekindergarten program in 2020. The state pays for at least 15 hours of free preschool each week at any public or private preschool, including religious ones, provided it meets the program’s requirements, including the nondiscrimination agreement. In 2023, the archdiocese directed its preschools not to register, arguing the requirements ran counter to its views on sexuality and gender identity.
Teachers, other staff members and parents at its schools sign a “statement of community beliefs” that acknowledges that the archdiocese does not recognize same-sex relationships or transgender status. Enrolling children of gay and transgender parents, according to school officials , would “likely lead to intractable conflicts.” According to the lawsuit, Colorado is excluding hundreds of families across 34 preschools overseen by the archdiocese. As a result, the archbishop of Denver said last week that enrollment is down 20 percent and two preschools have closed, as parents have withdrawn their children and enrolled them in schools that get public funding.
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