November 13: Washington. The Salvation Army says it will not permit any of its divisions to grant domestic partner benefits.
Earlier this month the Western Division of Salvation announced it would provide partner benefits to its employees in 13 states in the western US. The move made it the only only Army Corps to do so in the US, and put it at odds with Salvation Army policy.
Monday, the Salvation Army's Commissioners said that effective immediately it had established a national policy to extend health benefit access to an employee's spouse and dependent children only.
The order, signed by the Commissioner of the Salvation Army, Lawrence R. Moretz, said: "We will not sign any government contract or any other funding contracts that contain domestic partner benefit requirements."
The Army had been under intense pressure from conservative Christian groups. Earlier Monday, Donald E. Wildmon, the President of the American Family Association said: "The Salvation Army has taken a stab at the very heart of evangelical Christianity and given the homosexual movement the largest boost it has ever received."
Wildmon said, "the Army has surrendered to a foe which seeks to turn the meaning of marriage and Biblical morals upside down. They have sold their soul for a mess of pottage. They have turned their back on their fellow evangelical Christians. And they did it for money. Government money. Thirty pieces of silver."
In ordering the Western Division to reject partner benefits, the Salvation Army Statement apologized. "We deeply regret the perception that the Commissioners' Conference surrendered any biblical principles in making the original decision," Moretz letter said.
There has been no response from the Western Division of the Salvation Army, but the right wing Family Research Council was quick to react. The FRC publicly released Moretz' letter.
In an accompanying statement, the FRC said, "we are pleased to see the Salvation Army reclaim it's biblical standard of morality and reaffirm the importance of marriage and the family.
Gay rights group The Human Rights Campaign said it was "deeply disappointed".
"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," Birch said.
Sally Ann Gives Some US Workers Partner Benefits
http://365gay.com/newscontent/110301SallyAnn.htm
Mary Ellen Peterson
365Gay.com Newscenter in Los
Angeles
(November 3, Los Angeles) The Salvation Army in California says it will provide partner benefits to its employees in the western US. The move makes it the only only Army Corps to do so in the US, and puts it at odds with Salvation Army policy in the US.
The move will allow it to compete for taxpayer money from San Francisco for some of the programmes it offers.
The Salvation Army severed ties with San Francisco city government in 1998 rather than comply with the city's landmark Equal Benefits Ordinance. The law requires city contractors to offer their employees with domestic partners -- gay or straight -- the same benefits as their married co-workers.
At the time, Salvation Army officials said the law conflicted with the organization's pro-family, Christian beliefs. Now, they say, the thinking is different.
The new policy may take as long as two years to enact. It will cover the Salvation Army's Western Corporation, which includes 13 states.
The agency's about-face came after the Washington Post reported in July on a leaked Salvation Army memo that said it would support the White House's faith-based initiative if the Bush administration agreed to exempt religious organizations that receive federal money from state and local laws that protect gays and lesbians from discrimination. The back-room lobbying enraged civil rights groups. The White House and Salvation Army backed off.
In Canada, Salvation Army employees are covered by partner benefit laws.