Supreme Court to Decide If Taxpayers Fund Religious Schools That Discriminate Against LGBTQ Families

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy on November 3, a case that directly asks whether the Constitution permits religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQ students. The dispute centers on Colorado's universal preschool program, which pays for early education for all four-year-olds in the state. Families may choose from public, private, and religious schools, but participating schools are barred from discriminating based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Erika Nagle, a Catholic mother of three from Littleton, Colorado, says her family was denied $12,000 in taxpayer-funded preschool benefits because she chose a Catholic education for her children. She told Fox News Digital that two of her children were denied access to the state's preschool funding program, forcing her family to cover additional education expenses. Nagle said her family is being excluded from the benefit because they are Catholic.

“We are being excluded from this benefit because we are Catholic.”

According to Becket, Colorado launched the preschool funding program in 2023, offering eligible families approximately $6,300 to cover 15 hours of preschool per week. The organization said the program was promoted as a universal benefit allowing parents to choose among public, private, and religious preschools. Catholic schools challenging the program argue that the state's participation requirements unfairly burden their religious beliefs and admissions practices.

Nagle said two preschools in the archdiocese have closed down, arguing that the program pressures families to abandon the religious education they want for their children. She said the state is incentivizing people to leave their faith and abandon Catholic education. Religious preschools that discriminate may continue to operate in Colorado because the state's broad ban on anti-LGBTQ discrimination exempts places principally used for religious purposes.

The sole issue in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy is whether Colorado's taxpayers must fund religious schools that engage in discrimination. Given the court's past behavior in similar cases, observers expect a victory for religious groups that wish to exclude sexual or gender minorities. The case also raises the related question of when the Constitution requires states to subsidize religious institutions.