U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference File Amicus Brief in LGBTQ+ Nondiscrimination Case

U.S. Supreme Court

The fight against discrimination in Colorado Catholic preschools continues with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) filing an amicus brief with the US Supreme Court which  argues for Catholic schools’ ‘right’ to discriminate. 

This case, St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, traces all the way back to 2023, when Colorado instituted a universal preschool program that provides funds to families to send their child to the preschool of their choice. The program includes both public and private schools, including faith-based schools, as long as the schools adhere to the state’s nondiscrimination rules. In the case of this funding program, schools are prohibited from refusing admission to a child based on the sexual orientation or gender identity of the child or the child’s family members. 

In early 2025, two Colorado Catholic schools sued to be able to exclude LGBTQ+ families, claiming that the nondiscrimination rules violated their religious freedom by preventing them from joining the program. The Catholic schools argued that they should be permitted to participate in the program and be permitted to deny admission to children or families that do not align with their religious beliefs, especially around gender and sexuality. 

The schools lost the original suit in a lower court,, and the suit continued to be denied by subsequent appeal courts who found that the nondiscrimination requirement for participation in the program does not violate any religious freedom laws. In fact, the  Interfaith Alliance, Colorado sought out faith-based providers at every step of the development and implementation of the program, taking special care to ensure that no family would be turned away on account of their faith. 

Thecase will be heard before the U.S. Supreme Court. According to the National Catholic Reporter, the USCCB’s  amicus brief argued that, “The government may not deny religious entities the right to participate in an otherwise generally available public program because of their religious character or exercise.” 

In the brief, the USCCB suggests that rules that protect against discrimination infringe on “sincerely held religious beliefs.” The brief states, in part:

“This case is just the latest example of a disturbing trend — states and cities across the country using nondiscrimination requirements to ‘covert(ly) suppress particular religious beliefs,’” the brief reads, quoting a 1993 Supreme Court ruling in Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah. 

“If this trend continues, it will impair the ability of Catholic organizations and other faith-based service providers to partner with state and local governments to serve the public. The resulting harm to the nation’s social support infrastructure would be immense. Catholic charitable organizations are a profound force for good. They provide excellent education, heal the sick, care for the vulnerable, and feed the hungry.”

While the USCCB claims that the “trend” of nondiscrimination protections is disturbing, what is truly disquieting is the argument that one’s religious beliefs should provide justification to discriminate against another human being. Catholic charitable organizations, as the USCCB points out, are indeed a profound force for good. They reach out to the marginalized and seek to build up the body of Christ. It should be evident that the religious beliefs that fuel such a mission–namely love, mercy, and justice–are in no way hindered by or in opposition to nondiscrimination protections. 

Discrimination, simply put, is not a Catholic value. 

—Phoebe Carstens, New Ways Ministry, September 30, 2026

Editor’s Note: New Ways Ministry and other Catholic organizations and individuals have  filed amicus briefs which argue against the Catholic schools’ suit. Bondings 2.0 will be reporting on them in the coming weeks.