美国最高法院将于周二就科罗拉多州能否要求接受公共资金的幼儿园招收同性伴侣的子女举行口头辩论。这是最新一起涉及宗教权利与LGBTQ权利交叉领域的案件提交大法官审理。
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday on whether Colorado can require preschools that accept public dollars to admit the children of same-sex couples. It’s the latest battle at the intersection of religious and LGBTQ rights to reach the justices.
丹佛总教区、一组天主教堂区以及家长丹尼尔和丽莎·希利依据《第一修正案》对科罗拉多州的反歧视强制令提出挑战。“科罗拉多州偏袒一方的必然结果是，更多科罗拉多州的儿童将被引导至在性和婚姻问题上与科罗拉多州观点一致的幼儿园，”他们在法庭文书中写道。
The Archdiocese of Denver, a group of Catholic parishes and parents Daniel and Lisa Sheley challenge Colorado’s antidiscrimination mandate under the First Amendment. “The inevitable result of Colorado’s thumb on the scale is that more Colorado children will be funneled toward preschools that share Colorado’s perspective on matters of sex and marriage,” they wrote in court filings.
巧合的是，这场高风险的辩论恰逢数百万美国人前往投票站参加大选之际，多个州的选民将就与LGBTQ相关的投票议题表决。该案判决预计将于夏季前作出。
Coincidentally, the high-stakes arguments land as millions of Americans head to the polls on Election Day, with voters in several states set to consider LGBTQ-related ballot measures. A decision in the Colorado case is expected by summer.
该计划于2023年首次实施，科罗拉多州为每名符合条件的儿童每周提供15小时的普惠学前教育资助。家长可自行选择送子女去哪所幼儿园，今年有2000多所幼儿园申请参加该计划。参与学校必须同意，无论性取向和性别认同等各项标准如何，都要给予家庭“平等机会”入学。
First implemented in 2023, Colorado funds 15 hours of universal pre-K per week for each eligible child. Parents can choose where to send their child, and more than 2,000 preschools applied to participate in the program this year. Participating schools must agree to provide families an “equal opportunity” to enroll regardless of various criteria, including sexual orientation and gender identity.
这对领头向最高法院提起诉讼的圣玛丽天主教堂区幼儿园构成了问题。在为子女办理入学手续前，家长必须签署一份“社区信仰与承诺”声明。该声明要求家庭“对天主教会及其教义持积极支持态度”，包括其反对堕胎和同性婚姻的立场。家庭“不得公开宣扬或赞同任何会使这些教义失信的行为”。
That’s a problem for St. Mary Catholic Parish, the preschool leading the charge at the Supreme Court. Before enrolling a child at the school, parents must sign a statement of “Community Beliefs and Commitments.”It requires families to “display a positive and supportive attitude toward the Catholic Church” and its teachings, including its stances against abortion and same-sex marriage. Families “must refrain from public promotion or approval of any conduct” that would discredit those teachings.
科罗拉多州主张其强制令符合宪法，如果该幼儿园想要获得公共资金，就应被强制遵守。
Colorado contends its mandate is constitutional and the school should be forced to comply if it wants to receive public funds.
“无论一个家庭拥有多少公共资助的学前教育选择——无论多或少——科罗拉多州都力求确保这些选择不因该家庭的受保护群体身份而受到限制，”该州在法庭文件中写道。科罗拉多州的LGBTQ保护措施在保守派占多数的最高法院面前战绩不佳。在最近几个庭审期中，大法官们裁决支持一名挑战该州“转化疗法”禁令的咨询师，以及分别挑战科罗拉多州强制要求其为同性婚礼提供服务的网站设计师和蛋糕烘焙师。
“Whatever a family’s publicly funded preschool options—however many or few—Colorado seeks to ensure those options are not limited by that family’s protected-class status,” the state wrote in court filings. Colorado’s LGBTQ protections don’t have a great track record before the conservative-majority Supreme Court. In recent terms, the justices ruled for a counselor who challenged the state’s “conversion therapy” ban and a website designer and cake baker who separately challenged Colorado’s mandate that they perform their work for same-sex weddings, too.
然而，最新的案件在法律上与那些诉讼截然不同。这起学前教育纠纷为法院提供了一个机会，可以缩小一项关键的1990年最高法院判例的适用范围，该判例被法院中的几位保守派大法官批评为与宗教自由不相容。总教区希望法院能这样做。法庭文件显示，自科罗拉多州启动其全民学前教育计划以来，总教区的学前教育入学人数已下降近20%。
The newest case is legally distinct from those battles, however. The preschool dispute provides the court a chance to narrow a key 1990 Supreme Court precedent that several of the court’s conservatives have criticized for being incompatible with religious liberty. The archdiocese hopes the court will do so. Preschool enrollment has already declined almost 20 percent across the archdiocese since Colorado began its universal pre-K program, court filings indicate.
由“贝克特宗教自由基金”代理的总教区指出，该州允许专门服务低收入家庭和残疾学生的学前教育机构参与该计划。“申请人不反对科罗拉多州决定允许超过1000所UPK学前教育机构选择性地服务其设立初衷所面向的社区——申请人只是希望同等的豁免权也能延伸至他们，”该组织在法庭文件中写道，其中UPK是全民学前教育的缩写。
Represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the archdiocese points to how the state allows preschools that specifically serve low-income families and students with disabilities to participate. “Petitioners have no objection to Colorado’s decision to allow over 1,000 UPK preschools to selectively serve the communities they are designed to serve—Petitioners simply want the same accommodation extended to them,” the group wrote in court filings, using an acronym for universal pre-K.
这一论点得到了约20个由共和党领导的州、近四十名共和党国会议员、美国正统犹太教会联盟以及其他几个宗教团体的支持。特朗普政府也持相同立场，并将于周二在法庭上与这些学校共同辩论。
It’s an argument backed by roughly 20 Republican-led states, nearly four dozen Republican members of Congress, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and a handful of other religious groups. The Trump administration also agrees and will argue the case alongside the schools on Tuesday.
与此同时，科罗拉多州的辩方得到了全国有色人种协进会法律辩护基金、近180名国会民主党议员、LGBTQ倡导团体以及政教分离基金会的支持。“请愿人的理论，其核心威胁要用临时性的豁免取代立法机关的深思熟虑的判断。这将允许诉讼当事人成为他们自己的法律制定者，”这些议员在致大法官的信中写道。
Colorado’s defense, meanwhile, is supported by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, nearly 180 Democrats in Congress, LGBTQ advocacy groups and the Freedom From Religious Foundation. “Petitioners’ theory, at its core, threatens to replace the considered judgment of legislatures with ad hoc exemptions. That would permit litigants to become laws unto themselves,” the lawmakers wrote to the justices.