Ho Ho Ho by Cole Parker

[colinian]

The Salvation Army and the LGBT Community

Ho Ho Ho by Cole Parker tells about a time, not so long ago, when the Salvation Army was not a friend of the LGBT community. That has changed, and their website at http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/nodiscrimination/ states their current policies about supporting the LGBT individuals who go to the Salvation Army for support, as well as having supportive policies for hiring employees and accepting volunteers who are members of the LGBT community. This is a very different situation than they followed as recently as four years ago. I certainly hope these changes are permanent and, like the Boy Scouts, the Salvation Army has discovered that LGBT people are not to be demeaned and castigated as sinners.

Doug and I went Christmas shopping in downtown Walnut Creek last weekend. There was a red kettle for donations near one of the entrances to Macy's. I grabbed Doug's hand and we walked up, and with my other hand I dropped two dollars into the slot. The Salvation Army person manning the kettle looked at us, smiled, and said, "Bless you, and have a very Merry Christmas."

Colin 

 

[Cole Parker]

I'd like to put a forward on that story, then, to address their change of heart.

 

C