Baldwin, Takano, Merkley Lead 179 Colleagues in Urging Supreme Court to Protect Preschoolers from Discrimination

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI), Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA-39) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) led their colleagues in filing an amicus brief at the Supreme Court in the case of St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy advocating to the Justices that preschools that receive state dollars should not be able to discriminate against children and families. At issue in the case are religious preschools seeking an exemption from the nondiscrimination provision in Colorado's universal preschool program so they can refuse to admit LGBTQ+ children or the children of LGBTQ+ people while still receiving public funding. The members' brief urges the Supreme Court to uphold the nondiscrimination provision and not grant a religious exemption.

"Discriminating against anyone - let alone preschoolers - is simply wrong and betrays some of our most fundamental and enduring beliefs as Americans," said Senator Baldwin. "No child or family should face discrimination in a program supported by taxpayer dollars. Our country has taken great strides in the march toward true equality, and the Supreme Court should stop such blatant discrimination that would take us an unmistakable step backwards."

This upcoming term, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in St. Mary's Catholic Parish v. Roy, where the court will be considering when to apply which of its standards for granting religious exemptions from nondiscrimination laws. In 2020, Colorado voters passed a ballot proposition to establish state funding for preschool. In response, the Colorado legislature passed legislation to codify a universal preschool program. The law includes a nondiscrimination provision, stating that the quality standards for the program must include "a requirement that each preschool provider provide eligible children an equal opportunity to enroll and receive preschool services regardless of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, lack of housing, income level, or disability, as such characteristics and circumstances apply to the child or the child's family."

Two Catholic parishes that operate preschools, among other plaintiffs, sued claiming that this nondiscrimination policy violates their First Amendment rights. Specifically, the preschools want a religious exemption in order to receive taxpayer dollars while discriminating against LGBTQ+ students and children of LGBTQ+ parents.

The members' brief argues that:

1. The Supreme Court defers to legislatures and the political process when assessing exemptions from neutral, generally-applicable laws;
2. Petitioners' rule would endanger a myriad of federal nondiscrimination laws that Congress has carefully crafted over decades; and
3. The Court should be mindful not to destabilize or undermine that legislative role by effectively legislating ad hoc exemptions to nondiscrimination laws.

The full amicus brief is available here.

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