The Salvation Army’s stance on LGBTQ+ people claims to be surprisingly open. (Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images)
The Salvation Army’s stance on LGBTQ+ people claims to be surprisingly open. (Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images)
The Salvation Army’s stance on LGBTQ+ people claims to be surprisingly open, despite discrimination allegations.
The festive season is in full swing, and while many are celebrating, others are looking for ways to support themselves, leading to increased search around charities such as The Salvation Army.
In the last decade, The Salvation Army’s spotty relationship with LGBTQ+ rights has been well publicised, with the company being sluggish to amend.
Most recently, in 2019, singer Ellie Goulding threatened to pull out of her performance at the NFL’s Thanksgiving Day halftime show – intended to coincide with its annual holiday Red Kettle Campaign –over the company’s homophobic track record.
That same year, Chick-fil-A ended their donations with the charity, leading it to insist that it’s working to atone its anti-LGTBQ+ past.
National commander of the Salvation Army, David Hudson, in an op-ed for USA Today, previously called out allegations of discrimination as false.
“Why take the time to read, research and rebut when we can simply scan and swipe? Assumptions are regularly presented as foregone conclusions, and facts often are drowned out by fiction,” he wrote.
He then listed ways in which the charity serves all people in need – 23 million a year – adding that it operates “a dorm in Las Vegas exclusively for transgender individuals”, and is aware that 20 per cent of people sleeping at the Salvation Army’s Harbor Light shelter in Minneapolis are LGBTQ+.
In Baltimore, he wrote that the charity works with city officials “to combat trafficking among transgender individuals, a growing need there”.
‘We aim to be an inclusive church…’
A look at the charity’s “Inclusion” webpage shows that it is attempting to rewrite its questionable history when it comes to LGBTQ+ people.
The page notes that the charity serve “many pope who are LGBT+” and that it welcomes and says yes people “regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, race, religion and ethnicity”.
It adds: “The Salvation Army rejects racism and sexism and stands against homophobia and transphobia, which victimises people and can reinforce feelings of alienation, loneliness and despair.
“We aim to be an inclusive church where everyone finds welcome and can develop their relationship with God. Like many other Christian churches, we have much to learn about issues such as structural discrimination, racism and human sexuality.”
The charity’s past speaks for itself, but its desire to be more inclusive seems to have abated some concerns that it’s anti-LGBTQ+.
Share your thoughts!Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.