The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington says it will likely discontinue its social service programs because a same-sex marriage bill approved by a committee in the D.C. Council this week would force them to provide services to gay couples.
The full Council is expected next month to vote in favor of the bill, and Mayor Adrian Fenty has said he will sign it.
The legislation introduced in October by Council member David Catania, an independent and chairman of the Health committee, was reported out with amendments by the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary on Tuesday. It does not require religious groups to participate in gay marriages, and exempts them from the “promotion of marriage through religious programs, counseling, courses, or retreats.”
The Archdiocese said the exemption, revised by the committee from “the promotion of marriage that is in violation of the entity’s religious beliefs,” is too narrow. It said it would become vulnerable to lawsuits if it refuses to promote gay marriages in its initiatives such as adoption services, programs for the poor and benefits for same-sex employees.
“It is our concern that the committee’s narrowing of the religious exemption language will cause the government to discontinue our long partnership with them and open up the agency to litigation and the use of resources to defend our religious beliefs rather than serve the poor,” said Edward Orzechowski, president/CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese.
Catholic Charities serves 68,000 people in the city annually apart from the thousands who rely on the 93 social programs provided by the 40 Catholic parishes in the District.
National gay advocacy groups had hailed the committee approval of the gay marriage bill. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy organization, has been rallying grassroots support for the measure, partnering with 200 members of the clergy in the District to hold an interfaith service in support of marriage equality.
The District earlier this year passed a measure recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. That bill was passed by a 12-1 vote of the Council.
The District already has a 1992 law allowing unmarried couples to register as domestic partners, but the statute only took effect in 2002 when Congress lifted a ban on using public money on the District’s domestic partner registry.
In September, a coalition of conservatives, including Bishops Harry Jackson and James Silver, filed a request with the District of Columbia Board of Elections for a ballot initiative next year that would define marriage as between a man and a woman. The initiative has the support of the Archdiocese.
Massachusetts and Connecticut were the first states to legalize same-sex marriages. Four states enacted legislation this year: Iowa, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire. Main overturned its law this month in a referendum.
New York is set to vote on a bill before year’s end, while California may hold a referendum on whether to repeal Proposition 8, its ban on gay marriages.
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