In St. Mary Catholic Parish in Littleton v. Roy, (D CO, June 4, 2024), a Colorado federal district court in a 101-page opinion, held that Colorado cannot exclude from its Universal Preschool Program two Catholic schools that will not enroll LGBTQ children or children from LGBTQ families so long as the state continues to improperly grant an exemption from religious anti-discrimination requirements to faith-based pre-schools that limit their enrollment to members of their own congregations. The court said in part:
Defendants have established a compelling interest in denying an exemption from the sexual-orientation and gender-identity aspects of the equal-opportunity requirement for Plaintiff Preschools specifically....
In sharp contrast to the evidence Defendants presented to establish a compelling interest with respect to the sexual-orientation and gender-identity aspects of the equal-opportunity requirement, Defendants did not offer any evidence relating to discrimination on the basis of religious affiliation....
Defendants enable faith-based providers to effectively discriminate on the basis of religious affiliation in their admission of preschoolers but, at the same time, deny Plaintiff Preschools an explicit exemption from the related aspect of the equal-opportunity requirement. Defendants have provided no compelling interest for their course of conduct....
The application by Defendants ... acting in their official capacities on behalf of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood, of the religious affiliation aspect of the equal-opportunity requirement...violates Plaintiffs’ rights secured by the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution....
The Court immediately and permanently enjoins Defendants ... from requiring, as a condition for participation in the Colorado Universal Preschool Program, that the preschools operated by Plaintiffs St. Mary Catholic Parish ... and St. Bernadette Catholic Parish... agree to provide or provide eligible children an equal opportunity to enroll and receive preschool services regardless of religious affiliation for as long as Defendants allow exceptions from the religious affiliation aspect of the equal-opportunity requirement set out in Colorado Revised Statute § 26.5-4-205(2)(b) and in the Colorado Universal Preschool Program Service Agreement.
Becket Fund issued a press release announcing the decision.
