The Catholic Conference of Illinois announced creation of a new Defense of Marriage Department Sept. 23, calling it a response to enactment of civil unions for gay and lesbian couples in Illinois.
?The new civil unions law is just the tip of the iceberg of an eroding yet historically cooperative relationship between the Church and the state of Illinois,? Catholic Conference officials said in a press statement.
The group, which is the lobbying arm of the Catholic Church in Illinois, said that recent moves toward full marriage equality in New York and Maryland, as well as advocates? desire to pass marriage equality in Illinois, ?have implications in many areas of civil and religious life.?
State Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), lead sponsor of the bill that allowed civil unions to begin in Illinois in June, said the Catholic Conference?s announcement highlights the need to continue to support and defend equal rights.
?Clearly, the work we?re doing to introduce equal benefits into the law have to continue,? Harris said. ?There are people who oppose marriage equality and oppose civil unions, and we can?t afford to rest on our laurels.?
The Conference lobbied mightily to stop the civil unions and has also been in the forefront of a recent legal battle between Catholic Charities and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. DCFS refused to renew Catholic Charities contracts in June to provide adoption and foster care services for the state after the Catholic organization said it would not provide such services to gay and lesbian couples with civil unions.
An Illinois Circuit Court judge upheld DCFS Aug. 18 in a suit filed by Catholic Charities, saying that the state is under no legal obligation to contract with the organization. Catholic Conference officials cited that issue in their announcement of the new marriage emphasis.
Harris said spending state funds means following state laws, including laws against discrimination.
?When you become a state vendor, you are obliged to follow state law, and that?s what the judge stated,? Harris said. ?In your religious functions you can choose to serve who you want or not.?
The Catholic Conference announcement also linked societal ills such as crime, truancy rates and public school performance to marriage equality, something Harris took issue with.
?They talk about crime, truancy and the effects on public schools, as if gay and lesbian couples in loving relationships have anything to do with those things,? Harris said. ?There are still a number of red herrings being tossed out there.?
Source: http://gaychicagonews.com/blog/2011/09/24/catholic-lobby-moves-to-fight-marriage-equality/
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