Gay and lesbian equality activists in the United States are
boycotting The Salvation Army because of their views on same-sex
relationships.
The move comes as the organisation push their annual Red Kettle
fundraiser, which sees them collect money from donors.
But, according to Christian Today and MSNBC, Bil Browning - editor
in chief of a blog titled The Bilerico Project - wrote in a post
that: "If you care about gay rights, you'll skip their bucket in
favor of a charity that doesn't actively discriminate against the
LGBT community."
Browning further writes: "The Salvation Army doesn't believe that
gays and lesbians should ever know the intimacy of any loving
relationship."
At the time of this story going live, a group on social networking
site Facebook entitled Boycott The Salvation Army had almost 4,000
likes.
"The Salvation Army is not only a charity, but an evangelical
church promoting conservative Christianity and anti-gay politics,"
it reads.
The page adds: "In 1986, the Salvation Army gathered signatures
against the repeal of a New Zealand law criminalizing
homosexuality.
"In 2000, the Salvation Army in Scotland spoke out against the
repeal of Section 28, which prohibited schools from treating
homosexuality as acceptable."
But a representative for the organization told Christian Today
that the disagreement boils down to theology.
"The Salvation Army and the gay community are never going to come
to an agreement on the topic," Maj. George Hood, national community
relations secretary for the organization, told Christian
Today.
"If people refuse to give, it's the poor and people in need that
will suffer," Hood said.
