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 its Extension of DP Health Benefits Anti-Gay Campaign by Religious Right Effects the Turnabout Charity's Regressive Decision 'Greatly Disappoints' the HRC |
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Compiled By GayToday
"We are dismayed that the Salvation Army's national leaders stepped back in time and usurped the strong leadership of a local division to include and support all families," said HRC Executive Director Elizabeth Birch. "We urge the organization to return to basing its policies on 'moral and ethical reasoning' instead of what appeases anti-gay political pressure groups. If this decision stands, the Salvation Army will have unambiguously identified itself as an anti-gay organization." On Monday, after a weeklong barrage of lobbying from anti-gay groups, the Salvation Army's national leadership, led by Commissioner Lawrence R. Moretz, instituted a new policy that stripped regional divisions of the authority to make decisions on expanding health benefits. The new directive rescinded the group's November 1 decision allowing its Western Corporation to provide health benefits to the domestic partners of its employees. A terse statement by Moretz indicated the Salvation Army's intent to renege on this policy and hurt families, according to HRC.
Birch said the Salvation Army's decision "will surely disappoint millions of Americans who want the group to be a unifying force in this country that helps all American families, instead of a narrowly focused group that caters to the whims of the extreme right wing." "The Salvation Army can't have it both ways," she said. "We urge it to remain relevant by embracing the full diversity of America instead of regressing and discriminating against certain families." In a statement earlier this month announcing the policy to extend employee benefits to domestic partners, the Salvation Army said changes in the American family dictated a change in policy. "This decision reflects our concern for the health of our employees and those closest to them, and is made on the basis of strong ethical and moral reasoning that reflects the dramatic changes in family structure in recent years," said Col. Phillip D. Needham, chief secretary for the Army's Western Corporation, headquartered in Long Beach, Calif. The announcement made the Western Corporation the first Salvation Army division to make such policy modifications. The short-lived change brought the group in line with much of corporate America and would have brought the Salvation Army into compliance with San Francisco's Equal Benefits Ordinance. The number of employers that offer domestic partner benefits has increased by more than 50 percent since August 1999 -- from 2,856 to 4,337 today. And the number of Fortune 500 companies offering domestic partner benefits has more than doubled in the past three years, from 61 in 1998 to 151 today. In July, a controversy erupted after The Washington Post reported on a leaked Salvation Army memo. The memo said that in exchange for the group's support on the Bush administration's faith-based initiative, the administration had made a "firm commitment" to shield religious charities that receive federal funds from city and statewide ordinances that protect gays and lesbians from discrimination. Under intense pressure from civil rights groups and members of Congress who were outraged by the reported deal, the White House retreated and announced it was no longer pursuing the discriminatory regulation championed by the Salvation Army. |
