Brief of Amici Curiae Scholars for the Advancement of Children’s Constitutional Rights in Support of Defendants-Appellants

Authors

Catherine Smith, Washington and Lee University School of LawFollow
Tanya M. Washington, Georgia State University College of LawFollow
Robin Walker Sterling, Northwestern Pritzker School of LawFollow
Jeremiah Chin, University of Washington School of LawFollow
Sara S. Hildebrand, Widener University Delaware Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Brief

Publication Date

9-15-2025

Abstract

Amici are scholars of children and the law, education law, family law, and anti-discrimination law. Amici draw this Court’s attention to the harms that four-year-olds in the LGBT community – LGBT children and children with LGBT parents – would bear should state-funded religious schools be granted a license to discriminate against them. An exemption to the Colorado Universal Preschool Program’s equal opportunity requirement would allow plaintiffs to discriminate against these children and raise unfair barriers in their paths to a high-quality education. An exemption would also inflict dignitary, psychological, and familial harms upon an entire class of young people – in their formative years – solely because of their or their parents’ LGBT identities. The exemption would also force Colorado to give legal effect to private moral or philosophical viewpoints in violation of state statutory protections and federal constitutional mandates.

Recommended Citation

Brief of Amici Curiae Scholars for the Advancement of Children’s Constitutional Rights in Support of Defendants-Appellants: Roy v. Darren Patterson Christian Academy, 10th Cir. No. 25-1187 (filed Sept. 15, 2025).