Changes in marriage bill offer churches leeway

D.C. panel expected to approve revisions hailed as 'step forward'

A D.C. Council committee is expected to approve major changes Tuesday to the bill to legalize same-sex marriage in the District, including adopting a provision that will make it easier for church officials to avoid participation in gay weddings and receptions.

As currently drafted, the legislation states that religious officials would have to offer wedding-related services to same-sex couples if those services are available to the public. But the Archdiocese of Washington and other religious organizations oppose that language, arguing that it would force them to restrict charitable and other services.

Bowing to that pressure, a council committee is expected to revise the bill to state that a church or religious official can deny services related to the "solemnization, celebration, or promotion" of a same-sex wedding without fear of running afoul of the city's anti-discrimination laws.

The proposed revisions mean, for example, that church officials do not have to rent reception space to a same-sex couple for a wedding, even if heterosexual couples can access that space. But churches would still have to abide by other aspects of the city's Human Rights Act, including not discriminating against gay employees who choose to get married.

"It was just clear, as a result of the testimony and as a result of the result of the public process, there were some fixes that needed to be made," said Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At large), chairman of the Committee on Public Safety and the Judiciary.

Officials on both sides of the debate were reviewing the proposed language change Monday night.

Robin Fretwell Wilson, a professor at the Washington and Lee University School of Law who has been lobbying for a broad religious exemption clause, called the proposed change "a step forward for religious liberty."

Richard J. Rosendall, a vice president of the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C., said he also expects to be supportive of Mendelson's proposal.

"The bill is attempting to be fair," Rosendall said. "It looks like they've got it close to right."

Mendelson will unveil the change at his committee's markup of the same-sex marriage bill Tuesday afternoon. After proposed amendments are voted on, the committee is expected to vote to send the legislation to the full council.

The bill, which is supported by at least 10 of 13 council members, is expected to be approved before Christmas.

In addition to the religious exemption, the revised version of the bill developed by Mendelson continues domestic partnerships in the District. If approved by the committee, the change could mean that the District will be the first jurisdiction in the nation in which same-sex couples will have the choice of getting married or entering a domestic partnership.

As currently drafted, Catania's bill calls for the elimination of domestic partnerships starting in 2011 because gay couples will be allowed to marry.

But some community leaders have been lobbying to keep the domestic partnership issue separate from the marriage debate.

Some gay rights activists have argued that couples should have the choice to choose between marriage and domestic partnerships, which are available to both gay and heterosexual couples. Members of the same family can also apply to be domestic partners in the District if they live together.

"Before we eliminate this status, which has been an alternative to marriage for many people in the District of the Columbia, we need to have a conversation about . . . how we would like to continue protecting the relationships of people who can't marry or who can but choose not to," said Nancy Polikoff, an American University law professor who is lobbying the council on the matter.