The US Supreme Court hears a challenge on Tuesday by two Catholic preschools to a state requirement that they enrol children of gay or transgender parents to receive public funds.

Colorado provides state funding for tuition at public or private preschools, including faith-based institutions, but has withheld it from the Catholic preschools for violating anti-discrimination laws because they ban children of such parents.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, two Catholic parishes and two parents, Dan and Lisa Sheley, filed a lawsuit seeking a religious exemption but lost in lower courts, prompting the appeal to the nation’s highest court.

“All we want is the freedom to choose the best preschool for our kids without being punished for our faith,” the Sheleys said in a statement at the time. “Colorado promised families a universal preschool programme, then cut out families like ours because we chose a Catholic education.”

CEO of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, Mark Rienzi, who is representing the plaintiffs, said Colorado is opening the door to families with “religious beliefs that are satisfactory to the government… when it comes to sex and marriage.”

“But if you’ve got different religious beliefs, and you’re a parent, you’re just out of luck,” Rienzi said. “The religious beliefs that fit with the government of Colorado are acceptable, and those parents can get reimbursed, but not the other ones.”

In a filing with the Supreme Court, Colorado said participants in the preschool programme must enrol children regardless of the race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity of the child or their parents.

“Petitioners seek an exemption from this law to allow them to receive public funding while turning away preschoolers because of their, or their parents’, gender identity or sexual orientation,” the state said.

The conservative-dominated Supreme Court, which includes three justices nominated by Republican President Donald Trump, has sided with religious rights claims in a number of high-profile cases, several of which have involved Colorado.

In 2018, the court ruled in favour of a Colorado baker who declined to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, and more recently the court backed a Christian therapist who challenged a Colorado law banning “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ minors.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in the preschools case by June 2027.

AFP