Bid to Stop Gay Adoptions Means Millions in Lost Funding for Massachusetts Catholic Charities

Posted on | March 6, 2006

It is good to see that some organizations are stepping up to the plate and telling the Catholic Church in Massachusetts to go fuck itself when it comes to its attack on gay adoptions. The church has been seeking an exemption from sate law that requires their social service agency Catholic Charities to accept gay applicants in spite of the church’s policies of anti-gay bigotry. This has stirred up a hornets nest for them as large donors, such as the United Way who was their largest donor last year, are starting to review their support for Catholic Charities. In accordance with its own anti-discrimination policies, the Boston area United Way ceased funding local Boy Scouts because of its policies preventing homosexuals and atheists from being members. The local scouts reversed its decision to adhere to the national policy prohibiting gays, reaffirmed in 2000 by the Boy Scouts of America v. Dale decision (530 U.S. 640), and began accepting gay members again.

Governor Mitt Romeny, a very vocal opponent of equal rights for gays and lesbians, is powerless to do anything and suggested they seek legislation to amend the law and grant the exemption. However the legislature has made it clear that such a bill will never pass leaving only the courts. I seriously doubt they will find any help within the Massachusetts court system and a federal judge would be hard pressed to find anything unconstitutional about the law since it applies to everyone equally so the Catholic Church cannot say it is being treated unfairly.

I know it may seem hypocritical of me to rip on organizations like the American Family Association for its call for consumer boycotts on one hand but support corporate boycotts on the other, but there is a reason for it. My basis for not supporting consumer boycotts is that there are too many consumers who will shift to make a difference. If the AFA announces a consumer boycott of Company X because of their support for equal rights for gays and lesbians, the people who adhere to the boycott will be replaced by gay, lesbian, and sympathetic consumers so in a sense all you see if a shift of who is spending the money and not a change in money itself. This is best exemplified by the boycott of Disney instigated by the Southern Baptist Convention that lasted years did nothing to hurt Disney. On the other hand the market for corporate donors, both profit and non-profit, is a tighter and organizations like Catholic Charities might not find someone willing and able to replace a funding source that gives them a million or two.

One question the termination of funding raises though is what happens to the other areas of services Catholic Charities provides and the people who are helped by those. Unfortunately, like the children waiting to be adopted, the Catholic Church has decided to turn them into pawns in their crusade against homosexuals. Let us not forget that Catholic Charities started this battle when it sought an exemption from state law to specifically discriminate against homosexuals wanting to adopt children.

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