The Salvation Army and the LGBT Community

I came across a link that was posted on Facebook by a few of my friends - LGBT Discrimination: Debunking the Lie.

Good article, basically saying that whoever comes to The Salvation Army for help, they will get it. Doesn't matter what their colour is, their class, their gender, their sexual orientation, etc.

Within the article is a link to a statement from The Salvation Army Northern Division (Minnesota and North Dakota), their "response to false accusations claiming that The Salvation Army discriminates against the LGBT community and pays lobbyists to fight against their interests."

Within that statement, it says this:

The Salvation Army embraces employees of many different faiths and orientations and abides by all applicable anti-discrimination laws in its hiring.

Mmhmm... So, that's why I was told that I could no longer be hired to run the kids' church at CFOT in-Sundays because I had come out as bisexual? Because CFOT "has a reputation to uphold"? That was the message that was passed along to me through my corps officer at the time.

I understand that at this time of year, The Salvation Army needs people to donate to the kettle campaign, and sometimes people don't want to donate because they hear that TSA discriminates against the LGBT community. Actually, this past Tuesday when I did a kettle shift, there were two people that stopped by and were like, "Didn't you know that The Salvation Army doesn't support gays?" It actually led to a short conversation with the second person, and I was able to share about how I'm openly bisexual and still accepted and actively involved with my corps.

What gets to me is that TSA wants these "rumours" to stop, and yet these "rumours" aren't entirely untrue. Yes, I will agree that TSA will serve everyone who needs help, regardless of sexual orientation (or gender, or colour, etc.) But I will not agree with something that is not true, at least in my experience.

Do I think people should donate to the kettle campaign? Absolutely! I still support TSA. I know there are a lot of programs that run out of my corps, and 80% of funds raised through our kettles comes back to the corps to support those programs. And these are some really great programs that are much needed in the community.

But I will also stand by the truth.

/end rant.