LFC to Supreme Court: Children Have Rights Independent of Parents

On August 24, 2026, Lawyers For Children joined other leading child advocacy, academic, policy and religious organizations, along with scholars, in filing a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, an important case concerning the constitutional rights of children and protections against discrimination based on their parents’ identity. The brief was prepared in partnership with pro bono counsel Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, who represented the amici before the Court.

The case involves the State of Colorado’s publicly funded universal preschool program. Two religious organizations want to participate in the program, but also want to refuse admission to children whose parents are LGBTQ+, which would violate the state’s anti-discrimination law protecting LGBTQ+ individuals. 

Our brief asks the Supreme Court to uphold the rights of the children who would be affected. The Court has long recognized that children have equal protection rights of their own and should not be denied opportunities because of their parents’ identity or circumstances. As the brief explains, “children are unjustifiably harmed when they are penalized based on their parents’ identity, status, or conduct.” The case revisits critical precedent such as the landmark Brown v. Board of education, which desegregated public schools. 

The brief further argues that allowing publicly funded preschools to exclude children because their parents are LGBTQ+ would harm and stigmatize young children and could limit their access to early education. As the brief puts it, such a policy would tell children “that they are different, that they are unwelcome, and that their families are unworthy.”

For Lawyers For Children, the case raises an issue central to our work: children have rights independent of their parents. When courts make decisions that directly affect children, their own rights and interests must be considered and valued under the law. The case will be decided by the Supreme Court in 2027. 

Download the amicus brief.