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.
So the Catholic Church announced it is blackmailing the DC Council over marriage equality, at the expense of the poor and kids without homes.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.
Under the bill, headed for a D.C. Council vote next month, religious organizations would not be required to perform or make space available for same-sex weddings. But they would have to obey city laws prohibiting discrimination against gay men and lesbians.
Oh, well, heaven forbid (pun intended) they should have to obey city laws. A couple of points:
The city has anti-discrimination laws on the books. Their claim- that they might be forced to place kids with same-sex parents, for example- is already true under existing law. Catholic Charities, the social services arm of the Church, has lived under those laws for years and received millions from city coffers, and is trying to erode them using scare tactics.
This has nothing to do with the marriage equality legislation. It is a red herring. The legislation provides for exemptions for religious organizations to, for example, not allow same-sex couples to use their religious building for a wedding. The amendment that did not pass on Tuesday relates to individuals' rights, and as Chairman Mendelson said in the WaPo piece, the problem with individual exemption is that anybody can use their religious beliefs to discriminate- back in the 50s and 60s, people said the separation of the races was ordained by God.
Catholic Charities receives DC taxpayer money to fund its services. If they aren't interested in abiding under already-existing DC public laws using our public money, then don't take it. City leaders themselves have pointed out that Catholic Charities is not an indispensible component of city services. I'm no expert on the non-profit world, but I can't imagine there aren't other groups who can use the money to take their place. And I'm not really down with my money going to religious organizations anyway.
In Boston, Catholic Charities shut down its adoption services over the same issue. But before they did so, they had been placing kids in same-sex households to comply with the law until the Boston Globe exposed it and the hierarchy told them to stop. It is plainly nauseating to me that the need to discriminate so overrides the Church's commitment to feed the hungry and clothe the naked that they would take this stand.
Or, as DC Clergy United for Marriage Equality said today:
"The Catholic Church hierarchy is at a crossroads: they must decide whether they are in the charity business for charity's sake, or if imposing their will on the DC City Council and the citizens of the district is their primary interest."
This whole thing reminds me of the Bishop's engagement in the Maine marriage fight, even while his churches were closing, which went so overboard an opposition organization sprung up to generate a lot of pushback. We have to do the same in DC and reach out to people of faith to say that this has nothing to do with the marriage equality legislation, and that Catholic Charities should concentrate on its core values, not pushing its political beliefs.
I'm in the middle of an letter to the WaPo over this. If you are a DC-area resident, please consider joining with me. If you're a Catholic willing to organize in your congregation, drop me a line at adambink at gmail dot com.
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