D.C. May Have To Choose: Gay Rights or Helping Homeless?

In a recent announcement, the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has threatened to cut off support for its social services to help the need of D.C. passes the controversial gay rights legislation expected to go through next month.

The bill in question was announced by the City Council at the beginning of October and would allow same-sex marriages in the city of Washington, D.C. The bill explicitly states that religious organizations would not be required under this law to to perform same-sex marriages; however, the church is concerned that they may be required to extend employee benefits to same-sex married couples, and thus are threatening to cut all contracts with the city - including Catholic Charities, the church's charitable/social services branch.

Some of the more critically needed services run by Catholic Charities now at stake include homeless shelters, health/dental care, child care/after school care, counseling for families experiencing abuse or neglect, refugee programs, mental health services, and pregnancy/adoption counseling.

Susan Gibbs, archdiocese spokeswoman, explains: "The city is saying in order to provide social services, you need to be secular. For us, that's really a problem."

It seems as though the threat isn't being taken very seriously; Democratic council member Mary Cheh has referred to the situation as "somewhat childish", and Independent member David Catania says that the Catholic Charities is not an "indispensable component" of the infrastructure of the city's social aid programs. Nonetheless, tens of thousands will be effected if the church follows through on this announcement.

Either way, Democrat Phil Mendelson assures the public that they "will not legislate based on threats."

There is speculation about how likely it is that the church will follow through, and the situation has sparked strong, mixed emotions among citizens of Washington, D.C. and across the country.