Lawmakers defy church pressure on DC gay marriage
WASHINGTON — The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington is threatening to stop providing some social services unless lawmakers change a proposal to legalize same-sex marriages.
The city council has refused to change the measure, which is expected to pass next month.
The church says the marriage bill would force the church to offer employee benefits and adoptions to married same-sex couples. But council members say threats shouldn’t determine D.C. laws.
Council member Jim Graham says the church hasn’t abandoned social services in New Hampshire, Connecticut or Vermont after they began same-sex marriages.
In Boston, Catholic Charities has halted city adoption programs because Massachusetts bans public discrimination against same-sex couples.
This is far more complicated than it appears. The current DC bill requires churches to recognise gay marriages or halt all social programmes. This means that the Catholic churches in the area would have to recognise a union that completely goes against Church doctrine. While I obviously agree with same-sex marriage (what, with being gay and everything), the DC bill has some serious church and state implications that should not be ignored.
