St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy

A four-year-old shouldn’t lose their spot in preschool because of who their parents are.

Colorado’s Universal Preschool Program (UPK) helps make high-quality preschool available to eligible children across the state. Both religious and secular preschools can participate in UPK and receive public funding.

Colorado has conditioned the use of public money by any school in the UPK Program on an obligation not to discriminate against students seeking admission, a plainly a neutral objective. That means all eligible children must have an equal opportunity to enroll, including children with LGBTQ+ parents.

St. Mary’s Parish and the other Petitioners in this case are now asking the US Supreme Court to allow them to participate in UPK and receive public funding – while excluding children with LGBTQ+ parents.

This case is about whether a preschool that chooses to participate in a taxpayer-funded program can close its doors to some eligible children because of who their parents are.

GLAD Law and Lambda Legal submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Colorado and the state’s ability to ensure that public funding expands educational opportunities rather than supports discrimination.

Support for Colorado also includes briefs from leading First Amendment scholars, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the National Women’s Law Center, COLAGE, Family Equality, Rocky Mountain Equality, and more.

Learn more about this case and what else to know about the upcoming Supreme Court session in our October 5 webinar: The Session Ahead.