At Supreme Court, Justices Consider Religion, LGBTQ Rights

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The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that pit religious freedom against LGBTQ rights.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

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J. Scott Applewhite/AP

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Faith, LGBTQ Rights Collide At Supreme Court

The problem is that the city’s contracts ban discrimination against LGBT couples in the screening of foster parents, and Catholic Social Services, citing religious grounds, refuses to consider and certify same-sex married couples. Because of that, the city ended its contract with CSS for those services in the future. Two lower courts upheld the city’s decision, but on Wednesday the Supreme Court didn’t seem so sure.

Four of the court’s conservative justices — Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Neil Gorsuch — seemed overtly hostile to the city’s position, stressing the good work that CSS does for needy children.

The court’s three liberals — Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor — by contrast, stressed the city’s ban on contracting with groups that discriminate based on race, ethnicity, religion and gender. What if an agency wanted to discriminate based on those characteristics? Justice Barrett suggested that in her view race is different than all other categories. Chief Justice John Roberts asked difficult questions of both sides. And at the end of the day, the outcome of the case was not clear, with at least one justice in each camp seeming to ask for a compromise.