In this I can only speak for my home town, but I believe that there is a real problem with the Salvation Army and the LGBT community. It does not appear to be institutionalized, however. We have a lot of Salvation Army facilities and Salvation Army funded charities here, and it's been an issue. LGBT people have had issues trying to stay in the shelters. They have a men's facility and a women and children's facility, and gay men have been turned away from the men's shelter because "there are no separate facilities for homosexuals, and their presence in the same shelter would make heterosexual men uncomfortable". And they justify this by pointing out that husbands cannot stay with their wives and children in the same facility.
On the other hand, there is an independent shelter about three buildings over that receives Salvation Army money to provide food and occasionally clothing to those who stay there, and they will take anyone. One SA food kitchen will not feed you unless you attend 5 am services, another feeds anyone. The SA secondhand store employs LGBT people, as do the kitchens. Evidently they try to avoid hiring LGBT bell ringers, and office workers.
It seems as though there is not a corporate ban, but the decision is left unchallenged in the hand of the director of any given facility. And as long as nobody violates the rules, they can keep doing it. Also if you look at the language of the SA denial in this article, it is very specific in stating that demeaning or abusing homosexuals is not okay in their corporation. It does not say anything at all about the simple refusal of service.
On the other hand, and this is a very bitter other hand, the Salvation Army is one of the few national organizations equipped to handle large amounts of donations and get the money where it is needed quickly. And it is the only presence in many of cities who need it most. There is a dire need for a non religious organization on the scale of SA, but it doesn't exist yet. So while a boycott of the bell ringers might send the message loud and clear, we have to find some other organization with similar facilities to give to, and they may not exist. I haven't decided yet, but intimately knowing the layout of homeless facilities in the area, I may just drop my money in a red bucket and feel terrible about it.
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They deny it. So, if they really are homophobic then they are diluting their message which would not be army-like.Leave a comment:
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It's not an unfounded smear.
The Salvation Army has a documented history of funding anti-gay campaigns and has statements to that effect on their website. They have a firm anti-gay hiring practice and were leaders in the fight to not make gay hiring discrimination illegal. They are a conservative religious organization, is this really a shocking surprise?
They are called the Salvation ARMY people, you cannot be floored by the fact that they are militant and unyielding in their religious dogma.Last edited by Ally; 12-09-2011, 06:19 PM.Leave a comment:
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Gay-Rights Groups Urging a Boycott of Contributions to the Salvation Army
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