Supreme Court Weighs Religious Freedom, Anti-Discrimination Laws in Colorado Preschool Case

The Supreme Court is hearing a case brought by Catholic groups that challenged a Colorado law that barred a private Catholic preschool from accepting state-funded financial assistance because of its religious policies on sexual orientation. Outlets on the left have highlighted the reportedly anti-LGBTQ policies of the school, while outlets on the right tended to focus on the question of religious freedom.

The Details: The St. Mary Catholic Parish preschool near Denver, Colorado, does not enroll children of gay parents, which the school says aligns with Catholic teachings and should be protected by the First Amendment. Colorado law, however, bars this school and others with similar policies from accepting financial assistance through the state's universal pre-K program because it violates the program's antidiscrimination requirements. The program distributes public funds to participating pre-K programs so long as they "provide eligible children an equal opportunity to enroll and receive preschool services regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, lack of housing, income level, or disability."

The Court Case: Two Catholic parishes sued for exemptions from the law based on the argument that their exclusion violates their First Amendment rights to freedom of religious expression. Justice Sonia Sotomayor argued against the case, saying, "I'm hard-pressed to think that, given those teachings, that any homosexual family is going to choose to go to one of these schools, but that should be their choice, not your choice to exclude them… You want an official statement by the State that I will subsidize you with public money even though—because I have a right to reject children." Justice Brett Kavanaugh, on the other hand, argued that "There are plenty of opportunities to respect the rights of the religious believers and respect the ability of LGBT parents to find among the 2,000 schools an appropriate fit for their children."

How the Media Covered It: Fox News (Right bias) wrote that the court's conservative majority "offered clear support" for Catholic schools and that it has tended to favor religious institutions raising "free exercise" claims in recent years. Washington Post (Lean Left) included criticism from LGBTQ advocates who said "an exemption for St. Mary would lead to government-sponsored discrimination" and that there is "little difference between denying families based on sexual orientation and denying parents based on race." Reuters (Center) cited a variety of court cases that may be used to support the Supreme Court's decision, including cases that favored religious freedom and cases that favored the separation of church and state.

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