A private Christian preschool in Colorado is suing the state’s Department of Early Childhood for discrimination, alleging it will be denied state funding unless it adopts practices that violate employees’ religious beliefs.

The Darren Patterson Christian Academy runs the “Busy Bees” preschool in Buena Vista. It was accepted into a new universal preschool program that offers 15 hours a week of free preschool to every 4-year-old in the state. The school later learned of nondiscrimination provisions regarding gender identity, which must be adhered to in order to receive funding. It filed for a religious exemption to the provisions but was denied.

The federal civil rights lawsuit was filed last month on behalf of the school by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a nonprofit that describes itself as “the world’s largest legal organization advancing the God-given right to live and speak the truth.”

“The Constitution is clear: The government may not deny participation in a public program simply due to a school’s internal religious exercise,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jeremiah Galus. “Colorado officials are violating the school’s First Amendment rights by forcing it to abandon its religious beliefs—the reason why parents choose to send their kids to the school—to receive critical state funding.” (Read more from “Officials Sued Over Alleged Discrimination Against Christian Preschool” HERE)

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