PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- The Salvation Army must comply with Portland's domestic partners ordinance, or lose contracts for the only activity center and meals-on-wheels program serving the city's elderly.
City councilors voted 6-3 against exempting religious groups from a 2001 ordinance that requires recipients of federal funding to provide health and employment benefits to workers' domestic partners.
The Salvation Army says it cannot comply because the Bible forbids sexual relations between persons of the same gender.
The Salvation Army receives $60,000 a year from the city to operate its $400,000 meals program and the center for seniors, so it expects to reduce or cancel programs.