It seems that there is a conflict of laws going on here. I was researching this along related lines to obtain information for Mack the other night. 13 of the states, including California, prohibit discrimination based upon sexual orientation. The Federal law, however, regarding discrimination does not yet address this. However, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC) does prohibit such discrimination in entities which receive federal funding. A case could be made, for example, that Salvation Army offices located in states such as California would be in violation of state law if they discriminate on this basis. It sounds like they would also be in violation of the EEOC prohibition because they receive federal funding. A review of the laws is in order here. I'm of two minds as to federal assistance to religious-based charities - on one hand it seems draconian to cut them off because they do have a long record of good works. On the other hand, by giving them federal funding, you get into to these separation of church and state messes. My simplistic reaction has always been that the state should stay out of the church and the church should stay out of the state, but reality is not that simple. From reading the Wash. Post article which was linked, former laws such as the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1996 Welfare Reform Act have set the precedent for the current rights of the religious organizations. There should be more of a movement to amend the existing Federal law to get in line with the states which have prohibited this discrimination.
Kakki
