Boycotting the ubiquitous, holiday-time Salvation Army bell-ringers for their anti-gay practices is nothing new.
LGBT activists have been encouraging supporters to boycott the group's annual fundraising drive for years, but this year, it seems there's a push to get more organized. It started when Bil Browning, editor-in-chief of popular LGBT blog The Bilerico Project, published a post titled â┚¬Å”Why You Shouldn't Donate to the Salvation Army Bell-Ringers.â┚¬ÂÂ
The Salvation Army's Position Statement on Homosexuality, freely available on the organization's web site (SalvationArmyUSA.org), is very, very carefully worded, calling sexual attraction â┚¬Å”a matter of profound complexity.â┚¬Â Hmm. Not that some gays and lesbians don't have their inner struggles
Regardless of the tactful phrasing, the message is clear: The Salvation Army does not support LGBT rights.
â┚¬Å”Scripture forbids sexual intimacy between members of the same sex. The Salvation Army believes, therefore, that Christians whose sexual orientation is primarily or exclusively same-sex are called upon to embrace celibacy as a way of life. There is no scriptural support for same-sex unions as equal to, or as an alternative to, heterosexual marriage,â┚¬Â the statement reads.
It denounces abuse against individuals based on their sexual orientation and says the Salvation Army's services are available to all who qualify regardless of sexual orientation.
While out for beers a couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine ranted about The Salvation Army's anti-gay practices, so when The Bilerico Project published their takedown, I read it with interest. I respect the concise way the information was presented, but couldn't help but feel like there is a disconnect between the action boycotters want LGBT supports to take and the message we hope it will send the Salvation Army.
So I came up with a way to bridge the two. Here is a mini-flyer stating your opposition to The Salvation Army's anti-gay practices: 
If you are participating in the boycott but would like to let The Salvation Army know why, please click the image, print and when you encounter a bell-ringer, slip a flyer into their shiny red bucket, in lieu of cash. [IMPORTANT NOTE: Some browsers will automatically resize the image. For best restults, right-click on the image to the left, select “Save Image As” and save a copy of the file to your desktop. It should be sized perfectly for printing when you open it from there.]
If you do not agree with the boycott, that is fine, too.
The upshot is that The Salvation Army apparently does not discriminate against gay individuals when it comes to direct services (with the exception of Browning's story above), but holds a long-standing, organization-wide contempt for regulations that require charities to adhere to policies that fight anti-gay discrimination. That stance arguably is more problematic than blatantly homophobic groups because it allows The Salvation Army to publicly announce, â┚¬Å”We help anyone!â┚¬Â while collecting money from unsuspecting generous folks which it can then privately, quietly use to advance anti-LGBT efforts.
If you agree, cut out the flyer on this page or go to WatermarkOnline.com and print out your bell-ringer â┚¬Å”donationsâ┚¬Â stating why you do not support The Salvation Army.
