A solution for gay-marriage impasse in D.C.?

The Dec. 5 editorial "Can this marriage be saved?" offered an excellent solution regarding the dispute between Catholic Charities and the D.C. Council on same-sex marriage.

When Willie Brown was mayor of San Francisco, he and city supervisors agreed that each city employee could "designate a legally domiciled member of the employee's household as being eligible for spousal equivalent benefits." This way, the Catholic Church in San Francisco, which had protested such benefits, could continue serving the needs of the community and not violate one of its principles. I liken it to the church's offering of annulment rather than "divorce" in order to allow a Catholic to remain in the church's good graces.

Patricia Ranney, Millersville