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Ding Dong, the 'Gay' Grinches Are Back 12/18/2002 Homosexual activists want to can the kettle
Washington, D.C., Mayor Anthony Williams (D) and Council Chair Linda Cropp (D), who appeared as honorary bell ringers at a Salvation Army press conference last weekend, were told by "gay" activists to apologize for associating with a "homophobic group" that has discriminatory policies.
"I wasn't really familiar with that," Williams told The Washington Blade, a homosexual newspaper, concerning "gay" groups' objections. "Let me think about that, now that it's come to my attention."
Cropp went further, promising "to enlighten" the Salvation Army "on how much better they can provide service to the community if members of the gay community were a part of their volunteer program." She said she would call on the Army to change its policies.
George Hood, spokesman for the national office of the Salvation Army in Alexandria, Virginia, said homosexual activists are misconstruing the charity. "We don't turn anyone away," he told Culture & Family Report. "We have volunteers all over who are 'gay.'" He noted that the charity will not appoint open homosexuals to clergy positions, nor give marital benefits to non-marital relationships "outside the sanctity of marriage," but that everyone who needs services gets them.
As for those who are assailing the Salvation Army, Hood said, "It's so disappointing that they have no regard for the hundreds of thousands of people who are helped by this office and across the nation. They don't seem to care who is hurt by steering people away from us."
Wanda Alston, Mayor Williams' "special assistant for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Affairs," said she tried to warn the mayor that his endorsement would be controversial. She told the Blade that she alerted the mayor's office earlier in the month but that none of the mayor's political advisors had contacted her.
Appearing with Williams and Cropp at the bell ringing were several players from the Washington Redskins and Washington Wizards, plus Olympic athletes and other celebrities. Another celebrity bell-ringing event was slated for Friday.
Hood said that other than the flare-up in D.C., things have been quiet nationally, and that "giving is flat" so far. "It's the whole nonprofit sector," he said.
Give to 'Gay' Youth Groups, Not Salvation Army, Activist Implores
One national "gay" activist is not staying quiet, however. John Aravosis, who created the StopDrLaura.com Web site that is credited with helping to kill radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger's fledgling Paramount television show, is urging his Web readers to boycott the Salvation Army.
Aravosis, who has been featured several times on Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor, and likens pro-family activists to Nazis, gives holiday suggestions, beginning with this: "1. DO NOT GIVE TO THE SALVATION ARMY, UNLESS IT'S COAL. Yes, the Salvation Army is still anti-gay, and you still need to give donations to OTHER charities this holiday season. " (Emphasis in original.)
Aravosis recommends that donors give instead to "gay-straight alliances," which are clubs that recruit children for homosexual activism in schools. He also gives the Web address to download coupons from Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), which are to be dropped in Salvation Army kettles. The coupons say that the donor would have given $5 except for the Salvation Army's discriminatory policies. PFLAG began the campaign last year. In Michigan and Ohio, chapters of the American Family Association donated, dollar for dollar, to the Army based on the number of phony bills and gave hundreds of dollars to the charity.
The Salvation Army controversy was renewed when, on December 12, President Bush signed an executive order directing federal agencies to allow religious-based charities to compete for federal funds without compromising their beliefs. His action came after his "faith-based initiative" proposal stalled in Congress. Although the executive order does not contain a specific provision exempting charities from local and state "gay" rights laws, the President made it clear that religious groups will not be forced to give up their beliefs to obtain funding.
"When government gives support, charities should not be forced to change their character or compromise their mission," Bush said. "And I don't intend to compromise, either." The order prohibits charities from discriminating against clients, but allows the charities to take beliefs into consideration in terms of hiring and leadership.
"This is an end run around Congress that will allow groups to get taxpayer money and discriminate as they hire only people of their own religion," said Rep. Barney Frank, the openly homosexual congressman from Massachusetts who led the opposition to Bush's faith-based initiative in the House, in the Boston Globe. "It's outrageous. It's Taliban-like."
The Salvation Army has been at the center of controversy over the faith-based initiative since Army representatives met at the White House last year and expressed concern over state and local laws that mandate nondiscrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation."
The Washington Post ran a front-page story about the meeting.
"This whole notion that we struck this deal with the White House is untrue," Hood said. "We were pleading our case and they were listening." The bill's sponsors, under media pressure, eventually withdrew a provision guaranteeing exemptions from "gay" laws.
In Portland, Maine, city officials withdrew a $60,000 grant to the Salvation Army for a senior meals-on-wheels program last fall because the Army would not provide domestic partner benefits as mandated by a city statute. Although federal law already has some provisions for protecting religious groups, the Army decided not to sue.
Last year, the Western division of the Army issued a policy allowing for health benefits for domestic partners before a national furor resulted in an emergency meeting of the Army's national board and a reiteration of the marital standard for all chapters. |
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