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High Noon Showdown For Marriage Equality In DC

12/01/09-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
The D.C. Council is expected to pass a law today that will allow same-sex marriages in the District of Columbia.

The Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 AM, but fittingly the Council vote on Marriage Equality in the District is likely to occur around High Noon…. as a showdown of Hollywood proportions between the District and the Archdiocese of DC could well be looming in the wake of this vote.

The church has warned the District that its social service arm, Catholic Charities, may have to withdraw from its roughly $20 million in annual city contracts to provide services to the District, such as homeless shelters, medical clinics, and tutoring programs to 68,000 city residents if the legislation goes forward.

The Catholic Church, opposes the legislation, and even though churches and clergy would not be forced to conduct same-sex weddings, the Washington archdiocese still wants the Catholic Church exempted from having to pay spousal benefits to any gay employees it may have, and also hopes to avoid being forced to handle gay adoptions. It was still seeking change in the bill and met with D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson late Monday.

A majority of the DC council remains firmly behind the legislation and dismissed the prospect of services being cut off.

Council member Mary Cheh has called the archdiocese “somewhat childish.” Catania suggested that Catholic Charities were not “an indispensable component of our social services infrastructure.” Council member David Catania remarked, “It’s a shame they don’t extend the same efforts to issues that really matter, like health care and homelessness.”

Both Councilman Catania and Mendelson said the church should use the same policy as Georgetown University, a church school that does not officially recognize gay marriage but nonetheless provides spouse-like benefits to its adult employees.

Other Council members we spoke with yesterday express similar sentiments, but one Council member also noted that Catholic Charities does have contracts with the District to provide these services and any attempt to terminate those contracts unilaterally before their expiration end will probably net the Archdiocese of Washington a lawsuit from the District. Should that happen, the city can then sue the Roman Catholic Church for breach of contract.

In July, the Washington DC City Council voted to recognize same-sex marriage performed outside the city such as in Vermont. The vote was held twice due to the reluctance of one council member.

This will be the first read of the bill, and the initial vote. On the 15th, it will go for the full vote.

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