WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court will hear from Catholic preschools that say Colorado violated their religious rights by excluding them from a state-funded program over their admission policies.
The court agreed Monday to take up the appeal from St. Mary Catholic Parish, which is supported by the Republican Trump administration.
Two facilities argue it’s unconstitutional to bar them from a taxpayer-funded free preschool program because of their faith-based restrictions on admission of LGBTQ+ families and kids.
The state said that religious schools are welcome to participate but are required to follow nondiscrimination laws.
It’s the latest religious rights case for the conservative-majority court, which has backed other claims of religious discrimination while taking a more skeptical view of LGBTQ+ rights.
As part of the case, the court will consider narrowing a landmark 1990 decision over the spiritual use of peyote, a cactus that contains a hallucinogen called mescaline. That opinion, written by conservative icon Justice Antonin Scalia, found religious practices don’t create exemptions from broadly applicable laws.
The justices declined a push from the schools, along with the Archdiocese of Denver, to overturn the ruling.
The case will be heard in the fall.
