Catholic Bishops Support Discrimination in Housing

Even as the Roman Catholic Church in the USA continues to reel from wave after wave of new sex abuse lawsuits and six figure multi-million dollar settlements are be entered into by dioceses and religious orders, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops nonetheless has the time to attack proposed new rues of the Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") that would bar housing discrimination based on sexual orientation. It's not exactly what I would describe as "treating homosexuals with dignity" while condemning gays who are not celibate - the supposed official line of the Vatican and Pope Palpatine. A copy of the Bishops' letter to HUD can be found here. Obviously, one has to wonder why HUD would pay heed to a single word in a letter drafted by a group with numerous members who were/are part of a worldwide conspiracy to obstruct justice and protect serial child molesters. It's also noteworthy that the child rapist protecting bishops cite DOMA as one of their justifications for standing strong for bigotry and discrimination. Jeremy Hooper at Good s You has details. Here are some highlights from Jeremy's thoughts and the USCCB's letter:
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In comments filed today with HUD, Anthony Picarello, USCCB general counsel, and Michael Moses, USCCB associate general counsel, noted that, when it comes to orientation and gender identity, “a protected classification for purposes of federal housing programs has no support in any Act of Congress and appears at odds with at least one other, namely, the Defense of Marriage Act.” They added that “the regulations may force faith-based and other organizations, as a condition of participating in HUD programs and in contravention of their religious beliefs, to facilitate shared housing arrangements between persons who are not joined in the legal union of one man and one woman.”
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To be clear, we are not suggesting that any person should be denied housing. But neither should a recipient or sub-recipient of HUD funds be required to facilitate cohabitation between unmarried persons, be it an unmarried heterosexual couple or a homosexual couple,
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Once again, the bishops want special rights that trump the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. The solution for the bishops is very simple. If they want to discriminate based on religious bigotry, then do not accept federal money. Oh, and while we are at it, can we skip a trial and just throw the bishops en mass in prison? True, a few who are innocent of involvement in the cover up of sexual abuse by priests might end up in the slammer, but as the Dallas Morning News noted back in 2002, TWO-THIRDS (2/3) of the then bishops had aided in cover ups, so overall the majority would deserve some "public accommodations.".