News · Supreme Court
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case about whether Catholic preschools in Colorado can join the state’s free preschool program without agreeing to its rule against turning away LGBT+ families. After about two hours of argument, a majority of the justices seemed to lean toward the schools, according to SCOTUSblog. No decision came that day. A ruling is expected by the end of June.
A plain-English guide to St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy.
What the case is about
Colorado runs a free preschool program for four-year-olds. It started in 2023 and pays for up to 15 hours a week at schools that sign up. More than 2,000 preschools take part, including other religious ones.
To join, a school signs a promise to give every child an equal chance to enroll. The promise covers these groups:
What every school promises
- Race and ethnicity
- Religious affiliation
- Sexual orientation and gender identity
- Lack of housing and income level
- Disability
Two Catholic parishes in the Archdiocese of Denver run preschools and wanted in. They would not sign. They say the rule clashes with Catholic teaching on marriage and sexuality. Colorado said no exceptions. The parishes, the archdiocese and two parents sued. One of the two parish preschools has since closed.
Two lower courts sided with Colorado. The Supreme Court took the case anyway.
What the schools say
The Catholic schools ask every family to sign a statement agreeing, in good faith, to support church teaching. Their lawyer, Nicholas Reaves, told the justices the schools exist to pass on the faith to the next generation. He said Colorado is shutting them out because of how they practice that faith.
The schools point to three earlier Supreme Court cases, the latest in 2022. In those cases, the Court said a state can’t cut religious schools out of public money just because they are religious. Colorado’s rule doesn’t mention religion. But the schools say the effect is the same, because Catholic schools can’t meet it.
They also say the rule isn’t the same for everyone. Colorado allows some preferences, such as for children with disabilities and children from low-income families. If the state can make those allowances, the schools say, it can make one for them.
The Trump administration backs the schools. A Justice Department lawyer, Sarah Harris, argued on their side.
One fact from the argument matters here. Reaves said it has never happened at St. Mary’s that a same-sex couple was turned away. Colorado’s lawyer said another parish school once turned away a fifth-grader’s family because the parents were a same-sex couple. Reaves answered that the family met with the principal and both sides agreed it was not the right fit.
What Colorado says
Colorado says its rule treats every school the same. Religious schools are welcome. They can keep teaching their beliefs about sex, gender and marriage. They just can’t turn away children on the list above.
Colorado’s lawyer, Helen Norton, said the state wants families to have “equal opportunity, not some opportunity.” She said the rule was in place before religious schools joined the program, so it was not aimed at them. She also said an expert witness testified that same-sex parents, like all parents, often pick a school for its location and hours.
“Your Catholic schools will reject a child merely because their parents are homosexual?”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, to the schools’ lawyer, at oral argument
What the justices said
Sotomayor asked that question directly. Reaves answered that if it is the school’s sincere religious practice, it would be permitted.
The justices questioned both sides. Here are some of the exchanges:
- Justice Elena Kagan said the three earlier cases were about laws that treated religious schools worse. Colorado’s rule treats everyone the same, she said, so the schools were asking for a “special accommodation.”
- Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson asked whether the same logic would let a school turn away children because of race. Harris said that would likely fail, because the government has a very strong reason to stop racial discrimination.
- Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked Colorado, “Why not seek the win/win?” He noted that only 34 of the 2,000 preschools are Catholic.
- Justice Neil Gorsuch asked what would be left of the older cases if a law only counted when it named religion. Justice Samuel Alito doubted that Colorado’s lawmakers failed to see what the rule would do to Catholic schools.
- Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked why Colorado can’t ban religious schools outright but can set a condition it knows they can’t meet.
- Chief Justice John Roberts pressed the schools on how far their idea would reach. Later he told Colorado he saw little difference in effect between its rule and the Maine law struck down in 2022.
SCOTUSblog reported that a majority seemed to agree Colorado’s refusal should face a tougher legal test than the lower courts used. Under that test, the state would have to show a very strong reason for its rule.
That is not the same as the schools winning. The Court could apply the test itself, or send the case back to the lower courts to do it. Reaves himself said the state would get a chance to show a good reason.
Near the end, Sotomayor said that whichever line of cases the Court follows, there will be “tremendous problems and a great cost to someone.”
Why this hits home in Philly
Philadelphia has seen a version of this fight. In 2018, the city refused to keep its foster care contract with Catholic Social Services unless the agency certified same-sex couples as foster parents. In June 2021, the Supreme Court ruled for the agency in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia. The vote was 9-0, but GLAD Law called the ruling narrow.
The Colorado argument brought it back. Reaves compared the schools’ policy to the agency’s. Kavanaugh said he asked the same win/win question in Fulton.
How we got here
- 2020Colorado voters approve universal preschool.
- 2023The program starts, with up to 15 free hours a week.
- September 30, 2025A federal appeals court sides with Colorado.
- April 2026The Supreme Court agrees to hear the case.
- November 3, 2026Oral argument, on Election Day.
- By end of June 2027A decision is expected.
What happens next. The Court is expected to rule by the end of June. The decision may be narrow, or it may be wide. Chalkbeat notes it could affect the conditions states set for any religious school that takes public money. PGC will cover the ruling when it comes.
Sources
- SCOTUSblog: Court seems poised to side with Catholic preschools in religious discrimination dispute (November 3, 2026)
- Chalkbeat Colorado: Here’s what the Supreme Court said during oral arguments in Colorado’s Catholic preschool case (November 3, 2026)
- Supreme Court of the United States: Oral argument transcript, St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, No. 25-581 (November 3, 2026)
- Justia: St. Mary Catholic v. Roy, 10th Circuit opinion (September 30, 2025)
- Faegre Drinker: Supreme Court Decides Fulton v. Philadelphia (June 17, 2021)
- GLAD Law: What to know about Fulton ruling (June 17, 2021)
