Supreme Court Takes Case That Pits LGBTQ+ Rights Against Religious Freedom

The Supreme Court announced on April 20 that it will take up one of the most consequential church-state clashes to reach the justices in recent years — a case out of Colorado that asks whether Catholic preschools can exclude children from LGBTQ+ families while still receiving state tuition subsidies.

The case is St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy and it's expected to be argued this fall with a decision by June 2027.

What's Actually at Stake

Colorado runs a universal preschool program offering free early education statewide. Both public and private schools can participate — including faith-based ones. More than 40 religious providers are currently enrolled in the program, including six Catholic Charities preschools.

The catch is that participating schools have to follow the state's nondiscrimination rules. Those rules require schools to give every eligible child "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 Archdiocese of Denver, which oversees 36 preschools, asks its schools not to admit students if their families disagree with Catholic teaching on "biological sex and marriage." That puts the church directly in conflict with Colorado's policy.

Without state subsidies, the Archdiocese says enrollment has declined sharply and families who want Catholic preschool education are paying thousands of dollars out of pocket. The church's argument is simple — all they want is the same access to the free preschool program available to thousands of other providers, without being forced to abandon their religious mission to get it.

"Our preschools exist to help parents who want an education rooted in the Catholic faith for their children," said Scott Elmer, chief mission officer for the Archdiocese of Denver. "All we ask is for the ability to offer families who choose a Catholic education the same access to free preschool services that's available at thousands of other preschools across Colorado."

What the Lower Courts Said

Courts below upheld Colorado's nondiscrimination requirement, finding that the policy doesn't target religious schools specifically and applies equally to all participating preschools. The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals called the program a "model example of maintaining neutral and generally applicable nondiscrimination laws while nonetheless trying to accommodate the exercise of religious beliefs."

The key line from that ruling — "when a school takes money from the state that is meant to ensure universal education, then its doors must be open to all."

The Bigger Legal Fight

The case directly challenges a 1990 Supreme Court decision called Employment Division v. Smith — a ruling that conservatives have criticized for decades because it blocked religious rights challenges to laws that apply neutrally to everyone. The Catholic Church wants that precedent overruled. The Supreme Court limited its review to how Smith is being applied rather than overruling it outright — but even that narrower question could have sweeping consequences.

The Trump administration's Department of Justice weighed in without being asked — an unusual move — siding with the church and arguing the importance of protecting free exercise of religion.

Why This One Matters

The conservative-majority court has been steadily building a body of law expanding religious rights in recent years. In a series of rulings since 2017, the justices have said states cannot categorically block religious institutions from participating in public subsidy programs. This case tests whether that principle extends to requiring those institutions to serve everyone equally once they're in.

The collision here is genuinely difficult. On one side — LGBTQ+ families and their children who could be turned away from a free public education program based on who their parents are. On the other — religious institutions arguing they shouldn't have to choose between their faith and participating in government programs open to everyone else.

How the court resolves that collision will likely shape religious freedom and nondiscrimination law for years to come.

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