Catholic church's dispute with the city has a solution

I take issue with The Post's Nov. 15 editorial "Marital discord," especially its claim that "the Catholic Church is not trying to prevent the legalization of same-sex marriage in the District." In fact, the Archdiocese of Washington testified against the marriage equality bill and has supported an initiative that would bar same-sex marriages.

The editorial concerns a threat by Catholic Charities to stop providing social services for the city unless the bill is amended to grant the church a broader exemption to discriminate. The Post talks about self-righteous D.C. Council members while ignoring the self-righteous intransigence of the archdiocese. The marriage bill protects the church's right to discriminate in its core religious functions, but the church insists on discriminating even in the provision of publicly funded services.

The Post treats the church as an indispensable contractor and disparages the city's ability to provide services, while ignoring reforms including the cutoff of funds for problematic AIDS contractors.

History offers a solution. In the 1990s, Catholic Charities in San Francisco objected to a law requiring city contractors that provide health insurance to the spouses of employees to offer the same benefit to domestic partners. The problem was solved by allowing each employee to designate one beneficiary, regardless of marital status.

The archdiocese does not pretend that providing benefits to divorced and remarried employees violates its teachings against divorce and remarriage. This is not about forcing religious entities to violate their doctrines but about an organization throwing its weight around out of a sense of entitlement to discriminate. District legislators cannot be expected to submit to blackmail, nor should The Post be making ill-supported excuses for it.

Rick Rosendall, Washington

The writer is vice president for political affairs at the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance.