[The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington issued an ultimatum to the D.C. Council last Wednesday](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/11/AR2009111116943.html). Unless councilmembers amend the proposal to legalize same-sex marriage, the archdiocese said it would discontinue its social service programs in D.C. According to members of the D.C. Council, such threats will not alter its push for [the bill, which is expected to pass after a Dec. 1 vote](https://www.thehoya.com/news/dc-councilmember-advocates-marriage-equality/).

The proposed marriage bill, if passed, would force the archdiocese to offer employee benefits and adoption services to married same-sex couples.

“The city is basically telling us, `If you want to continue doing business with the city and partner with us, you’re going to have to violate your faith,'” said Susan Gibbs, spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Washington. “We’re dedicated to help with social services, but we can’t stop being Catholic.”

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington has been a major nonprofit partner of the city, and maintains contracts that allocate city funding to many of the archdioceses’s social programs. Catholic Charities, the Roman Catholic Church’s private social service organization, administers aid to 68,000 people in the city, [including one-third of Washington’s homeless population that resides in city-owned shelters managed by the archdiocese](https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/12/AR2009111210561.html), according to The Washington Post.

The bill does not allow religious organizations to refuse employer spousal benefits or adoption services because the refusal would be considered a form of discrimination. The bill does not permit individuals, such as caterers or wedding photographers, to deny services to same-sex couples on the basis of the service providers’ religious beliefs. Without exemptions, religious organizations may be forced to enact policies that conflict with their members’ beliefs.

Jane G. Belford, chancellor of the Washington Archdiocese, wrote to the council last week, requesting an exemption from providing benefits to same-sex couples in an effort to protect individual religious freedoms. Belford said that all services would be adversely impacted if the bill leaves no room for an exemption.

According to The Washington Post, city leaders deny reports that social programs in the District would suffer should they decide to sever contracts with the archdiocese. [David Catania (SFS ’90, LAW ’94), the D.C. councilmember who introduced the bill](https://www.thehoya.com/news/alum-introduce-dc-marriage-bill/), said that the church is not the chief provider of any particular social service, and that he would prefer to end all contracts with the church rather than submit to its request. Churchgoers reportedly contribute over $10 million per year, which supplements city-funded programs. “