Back in November I wrote a piece regarding how DC Catholic Charities was holding poor people and kids without homes as hostages over the marriage equality bill (which went onto pass the DC Council overwhelmingly, was signed by the Mayor, and is nearing the end of the Congressional approval process without any incident). Catholic Charities pushed a red herring, claiming that under the marriage equality bill, they might be forced to end services altogether in DC because they didn't want to be forced to place children in the homes of same-sex parents, even though anti-discrimination laws had already been on the books for years, mandating that. Luckily, no one on the DC Council bought it, and in one of the proudest moments I've ever had of elected Democrats (and Catania, an independent), one by one, nearly every one of them came out and essentially told Catholic Charities to take a hike.
Since the DC bill is set to officially become law on March 3rd and fire and brimstone will rain down from the sky same-sex couples in DC will gain full equality, yesterday, Catholic Charities decided to end its foster program altogether rather than license same-sex couples. As expected, another group stepped forward to work with the 35 families in the program- locally-operated National Center for Children and Families- which will not discriminate. Tommy Wells, the DC Councilmember who oversees the Committee on Human Services, said the transfer went smoothly.
Good. If they aren't in the charity business for charity's sake, then don't take the money. Any group that takes taxpayer money- on the order of $20 million to Catholic Charities- shouldn't be allowed to discriminate in this fashion. And good on DC Councilmembers for taking a stand against discrimination and a false argument.
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