Wednesday, June 7, 2006

It won't end with Catholic Charities

In my column today, I only had room to mention in passing that one of the severe consequences likely to flow from the legalization of same-sex marriage is the persecution of traditional religious institutions. The clearest example so far is the case of Boston Catholic Charities, which was forced to choose between violating its religious principles by placing children for adoption with gay or lesbian couples -- or forfeiting its right to arrange adoptions in Massachusetts. It reluctantly shut down its adoption agency, one of the oldest and most respected in the state. (I wrote about the case on March 5 and again on March 15.)

To anybody who has been following this issue, it was not surprising that several senators spoke about the Boston case during the Senate debate on the Marriage Protection Amendment. As Maggie Gallagher shows in an eye-opening article for the Weekly Standard, the coming clash between same-sex marriage and religious liberty is likely to be a ferocious one. Gallagher interviewed several of the First Amendment lawyers and scholars who took part in a conference organized last month by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The scholars came from all points on the political spectrum (you can read the original papers here). Interestingly, those who favored same-sex marriage were most certain that religious groups will be hit with a torrent of litigation challenging their freedom of action and legal privileges. Examples mentioned in Gallagher's article include everything from private school admissions to family counseling to summer camps.

Catholic Charities was an early victim; it almost surely won't be the last.

Posted by Jeff Jacoby at 02:39 PM

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