By John Mack Freeman
The Salvation Army doesn’t only want to be known for its bell ringing this holiday season. It also wants you to know that it has a great record on LGBT rights. The only problem with that claim are inconvenient things like facts and history. A quick search reveals a few quick, not-quite-so LGBT-friendly moments, including:
- 2012, Australia: Senior official suggests LGBT people be put to death.
- March 2014, Texas: Refusing to house a homeless trans woman
- Website: A complete rejection of same sex marriage
- No health benefits to domestic partners that work for them
- No LGBT inclusion in their nondiscrimination policies in several regions.
But if all of those things are just misunderstandings, take heart. But this post has been making the rounds on social media from several of their outlets:
“For years, Facebook posts, forwarded emails and rumours have been leading some people to believe that The Salvation Army does not serve members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQ) community.
“These accusations simply aren’t true.
“Since its founding nearly 150 years ago, The Salvation Army has lived out its mission: To meet human needs in His name, without discrimination.
“People who come to the Army for assistance will be served according to their need and our capacity to help -regardless of race, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
“Any instance of discrimination is in direct opposition to our core beliefs and is against all of our policies.
“The Salvation Army embraces employees of many different faiths and orientations and abides by all applicable anti-discrimination laws in its hiring.
“We need your help in debunking the myth of LGBTQ discrimination. It can persuade people not to give, which in turn diminishes our resources and our ability to serve people in crisis.”
It’s a nice sentiment. If only it were true.