Why You Shouldn't Give to the Salvation Army This Holiday Season
The Salvation Army still discriminates against LGBT employees and
clients. Bilerico Project Activist Bill Browning said: "When a former
boyfriend and I were homeless, the Salvation Army insisted we break up
before they'd offer assistance. We slept on the street instead and
declined to break up as they demanded.” The organization also balks
at having to treat gay employees equal to straight employees. If you
care about gay rights, you'll skip their bucket in favor of a charity
that doesn't actively discriminate against the LGBT community.
Drop protest notes in the kettles instead of cash.
Make a few notes and carry them with you. The note can read something
like this:
"To Management: The Salvation Army's policies which discriminate
against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered employees and clients
prevent me from donating. I will donate in the future if and when
these discriminatory polices end."
Print out a few copies.
From our late friend Thomas Alan Heald:
The Pridelets Files for June 4
On this day in 1998, The Salvation Army of San Francisco puts its
money where its mouth is when it comes to discriminating, telling
Catholic newspaper, the "San Francisco Faith," that they would "rather
surrender $3.5 million in city contracts than accept, even in a
compromised form, its domestic partners law."
Says spokesperson Debbi Shrum, "We didn't feel it was appropriate for
the city of San Francisco to tell us what to do ... (Our) belief system,
grounded in traditional interpretation of Scripture, does not perceive
domestic partnership arrangements as similar to the sanctity granted
marriage partners."
Why You Shouldn't Give
Video Here:
http://www.bilerico.com/2010/11/why_you_shouldnt_give_to_the_salvation_army.php?
utm_source=front_page&utm_
medium=best_of_box&utm_
campaign=Best_Of
The Salvation Army-Gay Dilemma: To Give or Not?
By MICHELLE QUINN
With their red buckets and ringing bells out among the shoppers, the
Salvation Army reminds people of other worthy uses for their money.
The religious organization also has positions on many issues,
including homosexuality, which the charity views with disapproval.
In The San Francisco Chronicle’s Op-ed pages (which today are inside
the A section, as opposed to the back, along with the Editorial page.
I enjoy the hunt now that I’ve stopped blaming my husband for taking
it), Phil Bronstein, the paper’s executive vice-president and
editor-at-large, jumps into the debate over whether the organization’s
position on homosexuality outweighs the good it does.
There’s no whitewashing their beliefs, if you oppose them, though the
Army mission also is clear that its relief services are available to
anyone “without regard to sexual orientation.”
If you’re gay and find yourself homeless and hungry, would you refuse
this help? Some, who hold dear to the separation of naughty and nice,
clearly would.
Is the Salvation Army one of those organizations that is worth
supporting for its overall good even if you disagree with some of its
policies?
Mr. Bronstein says he will drop some money in the bucket. Shea O’Neill
at SF Appeal says if “you can stomach the fact that your money has to
pass through potentially gay-bashing hands before reaching a family in
need (because it will indeed reach them), then by all means drop a
quarter in the bucket.” Tim Redmond at the SF Bay Guardian says Don’t
Give.
It might be remembered in this context that General William Booth, the
Englishman who founded the organization in the mid-19th century, had a
view on a related question: accepting money from people you disapprove
of (in his case, burlesque dancers).
The Runyonesque remark attributed to him could have come from the
script of “Guys and Dolls”: “The only problem with tainted money is
’tain’t enough.” The story is retold in a 2007 piece on the alabama
website,
al.com, which is otherwise concerned about a Huntsville man
trying to be good and avoid bell-ringer’s elbow. (For more about the
Salvation Army as Damon Runyon’s inspiration, go to the site of the
Swiss branch in Basel.)
And one final aside: Laughing Squid has a video (posted below) of a
13-member-handbell choir helping a Salvation Army bell ringer in
Manhattan.
Video and More:
http://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/the-salvation-army-gay-dilemma-to-gi
ve-or-not/
Read more:
http://www.seattlepi.com/national/article/Salvation-Army-accused-of-g
ay-bias-1074623.php#
ixzz1gjOPIjDA
Read more:
http://www.seattlepi.com/national/article/Salvation-Army-accused-of-g
ay-bias-1074623.php#
ixzz1gjO3D0u5
More:
http://www.huliq.com/10061/salvation-army-accused-anti-lgbt-bias
Chicago’s Francis Cardinal George said his comments last week comparing LGBT activists with the Ku Klux Klan shouldn't be interpreted to mean the people in those two groups are the same -- a suggestion he called "absurd." George said the comments were meant to compare marches that he believes unfairly target the Catholic church. WLS-TV (Chicago) (12/26)
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