On Nov. 4, merely one day after millions of Americans go to the polls and cast their ballots on Election Day, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, a case that could have serious ramifications for the LGBTQ+ community, as well as wide-ranging implications for the protection of citizens’ religious liberties.

The plaintiff and namesake of the pending case before the Supreme Court is Sharonell Fulton, a longtime foster parent with Catholic Social Services (CSS), a government-funded adoption agency located in Philadelphia. In Fulton, the city of Philadelphia notified CSS that its contract for placing children in foster homes would be terminated because its policy of not licensing same-sex couples to be foster parents violated the city’s nondiscrimination policy. Thereafter, CSS sued the city in federal court seeking an order requiring the city to reinstate its contract and license, arguing that its right to free exercise of religion and freedom of speech entitles it to a taxpayer-funded contract and allowed it to reject otherwise qualified same-sex couples on the basis of their sexual orientation. The federal district court denied CSS’s motion for a preliminary injunction, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed, finding that: the city’s nondiscrimination policy was a neutral and generally applicable law, and CSS had not demonstrated that the city targeted CSS for its religious beliefs or was motivated by ill-will against its religion. The Supreme Court then granted certioriari.

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