culture

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case about the state of Colorado excluding Catholic families and preschools from the state’s universal preschool program because of their biblical beliefs about sexuality and marriage. 

It seems that despite Colorado’s three Supreme Court First Amendment losses since 2018, the state legislature and agencies are still showing contempt for First Amendment rights.

The state’s universal pre-kindergarten program (UPK), launched in 2023, pays preschools $6,000 a year to cover 10-15 hours of preschool costs for eligible four-year-olds. Voters overwhelmingly supported the program, which was funded through increasing prices and taxes for nicotine products.  

But the UPK program requires participating preschools to agree with the state’s position affirming “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” – clearly violating Catholic teaching. 

Because of this blatant discrimination against religious preschools, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dan and Lisa Sheley, parents of seven children, along with the Archdiocese of Denver and two Denver-area Catholic parishes with their preschools. 

Becket, a non-profit religious freedom law firm, explained in a press release that Colorado was discriminating against the Sheleys and other religious parents who would normally receive preschool tuition assistance from the state’s UPK: 

Parents like Becket clients Dan and Lisa Sheley, who are raising their children in the Catholic faith, hoped to use this benefit at their parish preschool in the Archdiocese of Denver. 

But Colorado imposed restrictions that excluded all Archdiocesan preschools from the program because they ask families to be supportive of the Catholic faith. 

To participate in the state’s UPK program, preschools must sign a Program Service Agreement,created by the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, agreeing they will provide eligible children and their families an equal opportunity to enroll and attend “regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, lack of housing, income level, or disability.” 

Of course, it’s patently ridiculous to consider a four-year-old having a “sexual orientation” or “gender identity.” These are ideological constructs, imposed on children by agenda-driven activists. 

But parents who send their children to Catholic preschools must also agree with basic biblical teachings: God created humans in His image; humans come in two forms, male or female; and marriage unites a husband and wife. 

The lawsuit explained that the two parishes in the case, St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton and St. Bernadette Catholic Parish in Lakewood, “serve the educational mission of the Catholic Church by operating preschool programs to assist parents in the religious and educational upbringing of their children.” 

Preschool staff are expected to uphold the church’s teaching, as Becket explained in the complaint: 

[B]ecause Catholic schools cannot affirm LGBTQ identities and relationships, the Archdiocese advises Catholic schools to have all teachers sign employment agreements annually “acknowledging the expectation that they will uphold Catholic moral teachings in word and deed.”

The complaint cited the Archdiocese of Denver’s “Guidance for Issues Concerning the Human Person and Sexual Identity”:

Catholic schools in particular need to implement policies that are consonant with Christian anthropology’s view of the person. Schools should avoid validating or affirming the premises of gender ideology, even indirectly, by silence or inaction.

The guidance goes on to say, 

[A] Catholic school cannot treat a same-sex couple as a family equivalent to the natural family without compromising its mission and Catholic identity. 

But when states like Colorado add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to nondiscrimination laws, they elevate mutable sexual characteristics to the same level as religious freedom – creating conflict.

The Archdiocese of Denver oversees 36 preschools serving around 1,500 students a year, with many receiving scholarships or tuition discounts. Becket Senior Counsel and attorney for the families and preschools stated that these families deserve to be part of the universal preschool program, too: 

Colorado promised free preschool for all, then slammed the door on families who chose a religious education for their children. After three losses in religious freedom cases at the Supreme Court, Colorado should know better. 

The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that states cannot exclude families from government benefits because of their faith. We’re confident the Court will say the same thing here and put a stop to Colorado’s no-Catholics-need-apply rules.

The bottom line, as Becket argues, is this: Religious schools should be able to participate in publicly available programs, and religious school students should be able to participate in these programs on equal footing as students who attend non-religious schools.

The case,  St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, should be heard by the court in the fall of 2026. 

Related articles and resources: 

Landmark Victory for Free Speech at the U.S. Supreme Court

Masterpiece Cakeshop Decision – What it Means

Religious Freedom and the Playground Case

State Can’t Discriminate Against Religion in Tuition Assistance Program, Supreme Court Rules

Supreme Court Smacks Down Colorado’s ‘Conversion Therapy’ Ban in 8-1 Decision

A Win for Religious Freedom: SCOTUS Rules State May Not Shut Out Religious Schools from Government Scholarship Program