A Salvation Army Anti-Gay Timeline

Are you gay?

Are your relatives gay?

Are your friends gay?

Then why do you support the Salvation Army Church?

Here's a brief modern timeline of anti-gay discrimination from the Salvationists:

1986
The Salvation Army collects signatures for a petition to stop the New Zealand legislature from decriminalizing homosexuality. The Homosexual Law Reform Act passes anyway.

May 1, 2001
An internal document from the Salvation Army says the charity has a "firm commitment" from the Bush administration for a national regulation shielding it and other religious charities from city and state laws barring discrimination against gays and lesbians, The Washington Post reports. The Salvation Army never discriminates in who it serves, says senior official George Hood, but being forced to hire gays "really begins to chew away at the theological fabric of who we are."

2004
The Salvation Army threatens to leave New York City if Mayor Michael Bloomberg enforces a new ordinance requiring all groups with city contracts to offer benefits to the same-sex partners of employees. Bloomberg, who opposed the ordinance, doesn't enforce it.

June 21, 2012
Maj. Andrew Craibe, the Australian Salvation Army spokesman, goes on the radio program Salt and Pepper, where gay hosts Serena Ryan and Pete Dillon ask him about his organization's assertion in its official Salvation Story: Salvationist Handbook of Doctrine that practicing homosexuals "deserve to die." "So we should die," Ryan tells Craibe, who replies: "You know, we have an alignment to the Scriptures, but that’s our belief."


Each of us has his/her own belief system. We hope yours is based on the Bible. Scripture may not condone homosexuality, but it DOES NOT tell us to wish death upon anyone who practices it. Whether it's Roy Moore or the Carbon Hill mayor or the Salvation Army Church, God isn't pleased.

Think the City of Florence should give money to the Salvationists for a homeless shelter? Ask the local Captain if he would hire a gay cook or housekeeper to work there. We'll wait for you to get back to us.

I'm the Current Salvation Army General. Please Don't Call Me an Elder; I'm More Important Than That and Don't You Forget It! Salute Soldier!