GLSEN Condemns SCOTUS Ruling Subsidizing Discrimination in Private Schools

GLSEN Condemns U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Paving Way for Public Funding to Subsidize Discrimination in Private Schools

WASHINGTON, D.C. --This week, in Carson v. Makin, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that when a state provides funding to private schools to provide secular education, it must also fund private religious education, thus siphoning public dollars away from public education. Never before has the Supreme Court forced a state to fund religious education. 

GLSEN Executive Director Melanie Willingham-Jaggers (they/she) issued the following statement:

“We all want what’s best for our kids, and that means that our collective public dollars need to be invested in an education system that serves all our students, regardless of gender, race or background. A handful of anti-democratic special interest groups are trying to privatize our education system with voucher programs and other schemes to seize public funding for private gain. The Supreme Court has just handed them a startling win. They’ve opened the door for more states to channel funding to schools that have free rein to discriminate against students and families based on gender identity or sexual orientation. Our research shows that LGBTQ+ students attending private religious schools report the most anti-LGBTQ+ policies and practices. We cannot stand for such discrimination, let alone allow taxpayer dollars to subsidize it.

“Clearly, we can’t rely on the courts alone to protect LGBTQ+ students. We must call on our representatives to stand up for students and oppose extremists’ attempts to privatize our education system. Public education is the cornerstone of our democracy and we can’t afford to defund it.”