Colorado lawmakers in the LGBTQ+ caucus on Wednesday criticized a recent federal court decision that allows a Buena Vista preschool that receives taxpayer dollars through a new state program to discriminate in its policies.
U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Domenico late last week granted a preliminary injunction barring the state from withholding universal preschool funds from or otherwise punishing Darren Patterson Christian Academy in Buena Vista. The school requires staff and students to follow policies that are based on biological sex rather than gender identity, which potentially violates the state’s nondiscrimination laws and program policies.
The school signed up to participate in Colorado’s new universal preschool program and is receiving state money to cover qualifying expenses for students. Friday’s ruling is narrow, the judge noted, granting an injunction that protects only Darren Patterson from state action while the case continues.
In a joint statement, the dozen members of the Colorado Democratic LGBTQ+ Caucus said the decision was “in direct conflict with the majority of Coloradans who overwhelmingly support LGBTQ+ rights, oppose discrimination, and support free, high-quality preschool for all early learners in Colorado.”
According to the academy’s lawsuit, filed in June, the preschool requested a religious exemption to the state’s anti-discrimination policies and was rejected. The school stated that it welcomes all families and children but said the state’s anti-discrimination policies would force it “to hire employees who do not share its faith and to alter internal rules and policies that are based on the school’s religious beliefs about sexuality and gender.”
The school sued and argued the program’s rules violated its First and 14th amendment rights.
“Darren Patterson Christian Academy has been serving Chaffee County families for over 40 years. Yet Colorado officials tried to force it to abandon its religious beliefs — the reason why parents choose to send their kids to the school — to receive critical state funding,” said Jeremiah Galus, an attorney for the legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, which backs the school, in a statement.
Attorneys for the state contended the lawsuit was premature because no complaints had been filed alleging discrimination, and the state had not penalized the preschool. But Domenico found that the preschool “credibly fears that third party complaints could jeopardize its participation in the program or subject it to burdensome investigations.”
The Colorado Department of Early Childhood declined to comment on the ruling, citing the ongoing legal matter.
“Under this ruling, taxpayers will now be forced to subsidize religious education institutions who want to use public funding for programs that exclude LGBTQ+ families,” the legislative caucus said in its statement. “Taxpayer dollars should be spent on preschools that are willing to serve all Coloradans, no matter the sexual orientation of parents, or the gender identity of students or staff.”
The Universal Preschool Colorado program launched this year after voters approved Proposition EE in 2020 to help pay for it. The state provides all eligible Colorado preschool students with at least 15 hours of free instruction per week through public and participating private providers.
In a separate case, a group of Catholic schools under the Archdiocese of Denver has sued on similar grounds as the Buena Vista preschool. That challenge is ongoing.
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