Supreme Court to review Colorado Catholic preschool funding dispute over LGBTQ enrollment rules

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review a Colorado fight over whether Catholic preschools can receive public money while keeping admissions rules tied to religious beliefs about sex and gender.

The case, St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton v. Roy, pits St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton, St. Bernadette Catholic Parish in Lakewood, Daniel Sheley, Lisa Sheley and the Archdiocese of Denver against Lisa Roy and Dawn Odean, the state officials running Colorado’s universal preschool program. The program pays for up to one year of 15 hours of tuition-free preschool in the year before kindergarten, and some families qualify for more time.

Colorado says participating providers must give children an equal opportunity to enroll regardless of race, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, income level or disability. The Catholic preschools say they were excluded from funding because they do not admit children of parents who do not support Catholic teachings on sex and gender, including families headed by LGBTQ parents. Colorado also allows some categorical and discretionary enrollment preferences for certain groups, a point the schools say undercuts the state’s claim that the rule is neutral and generally applicable.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit rejected the schools’ Free Exercise claim and upheld Colorado’s decision. The petitioners asked the Supreme Court to revisit Employment Division v. Smith, the 1990 precedent that generally permits neutral, generally applicable laws to survive religious-liberty challenges. They also argued that Carson v. Makin should matter because Colorado is not simply imposing a neutral funding condition, but excluding religious schools from a public program while allowing other preferences that, in the schools’ view, show the rule is not applied evenhandedly.

The dispute began in the District of Colorado, where the case was filed on June 4, 2024, under case number 1:23-cv-2079-JLK. The 10th Circuit appeal carried docket number 24-1267.

The outcome could shape how far states can go in attaching nondiscrimination rules to publicly funded preschool programs, and whether faith-based providers must choose between receiving public dollars and keeping religious enrollment standards. A ruling could also echo well beyond Colorado, affecting disputes over taxpayer-funded education programs and the rights of LGBTQ families and religious schools in states across the country.