I know people like to try to dismiss protests and boycotts of the Salvation Army especially when “they do so much good, and besides, lighten up, they are a private private charity with huge influence, you think you not donating will hurt them?”
Actually yes, yes it will, especially if a lot of “us” can take down them. I don’t agree with their bigoted and ignorant policies, they won’t get my money. All that “good” that they do doesn’t negate the transwoman they let freeze to death in the street, or the gay couples they forced to break up and be forced intotheir beliefs just so they can live another day.
Yeah, they are a private entity, but that doesn’t give them the right to decide who lives and who dies, especially when they have the capability.
I know I’ve reblogged a lot of anti-Salvation Army stuff recently, but imo, the more information you have about this, the better. Anyone who claims to be a “charitable” organization and then decides who is worthy of their charity based on whether they conform to a bigoted, cruel standard, deserves to have their misdeeds trumpeted.
And if you’re looking for charitable alternatives, I will always first and foremost recommend Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres, who do good work and don’t engage in this kind of damaging behavior. (In fact, when you donate on their website, they have an option to donate as Mr. and Mrs., Mr. and Mr., or Mrs. and Mrs., along with other specific titles.)
And because I haven’t seen it brought up lately, I will also point out that the Salvation Army is racist, having been documented to deny help to the children of out of status families, and to Latino families in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina just after the disaster, as they couldn’t “prove” their citizenship by showing personal documents, many of which had been destroyed in the flood.
Fuck the Salvation Army, you guys, and donate to someone who actually helps.
(via chriscolfer)
