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‘Back Room Bush’ Screwed by
Salvation Army
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By Jack Nichols
A sking the White House for the unvarnished truth about
George W. Bush’s secret plan to insure that U.S. taxpayers support
employment discrimination against gays and lesbians, TV news
commentators nationwide were joined in this demand by the
National Stonewall Democrats, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,
the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign, the Leadership Conference on Civil
Rights and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Faced with a public relations disaster, Bush operatives denied that
there was any secret plan.
But according to an internal Salvation Army memo obtained by The
Washington Post, the Salvation Army said it would actively support
the President's faith-based initiatives in exchange for White
House-favored regulations allowing for discrimination.
Such Bush administration regulations would permit faith-based charities
that receive federal funds to discriminate against gays and lesbians in
the
workplace.
According to the published reports, in return for this regulatory
change, the Salvation Army is expected to spend up to $110,000 per month
promoting the White House's faith-based initiative.
Television news, including CBS Evening News and
CNN, brought top story focus to the Bush discriminatory plan,
clearly agitated by what they saw reflected in the Washington Post
memo.
"It shows deep hypocrisy for the White House to advocate local control,
except for enforcing civil rights and anti-discrimination laws," said
Julian
Potter, co-chair of the National Stonewall Democrats.
"In that case, they want the federal government to force local
taxpayers to support discrimination. This should appall both Democrats and
Republicans, and both parties should work to make sure this backdoor
measure is never adopted."
The Salvation Army memo was dated May 1 -- while on May 9 the President
proclaimed the following week "National Salvation Army Week." Ironically,
later in the month, the President withheld his approval to proclaim June
"Gay and Lesbian Pride Month," with White House spokespersons stating that
such a proclamation politicized people's "private lives."
"While the White House was publicly proclaiming 'National Salvation Army
Week' it was privately planning with them to discriminate against gays and
lesbians."
Julian Potter further thrashed the Bush maneuver:
"President Bush may not feel comfortable politicizing our lives, but he
appears completely at ease politicizing the work of a religious
organization while working with them to discriminate against us."
White House spokesperson, Ari Fleischer, tried to downplay the memo. On
C-Span he was shown saying that the Salvation Army had
misinterpreted the administration's intentions. Asked if there had been a
trade-off, Fleischer told the Associated Press, "Oh no,
absolutely not." He added that there never has been a deal and that the
author of the Post report had misread the administration's
position. "They've been advised of that," said Fleischer in the AP
report.
In a Reuters report, the White House seemed to be
announcing, following the scandal’s eruption, that it had "refused a
request for a regulation exempting religious charities like the Salvation
Army from having to hire homosexuals." However, because of federal laws
already forbidding the forcing of religious groups to hire persons who do
not share their faith, such a regulation would be unnecessary anyway, the
White House insisted. Thus, explained HRC’s David Smith, the status quo
has simply been maintained.
Based, however, on the internal memo's vivid details illustrating the
administration's alleged commitment to the Salvation Army, the Human
Rights Campaign called on the administration to further clarify its
already exposed position and to fully disclose its objectives.
Under federal regulations, religious charities are exempted from federal
non-discrimination laws. However, the Salvation Army’s proposed
regulations would be used to ensure that such charities are exempted from
local non-discrimination laws as well.
"This back room deal exposes the rank hypocrisy of the Salvation Army,
whose own mission statement asserts that its charge is 'to meet human
needs...without discrimination,'" said Lorri L. Jean, executive director
of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
"It's appalling that a so-called Christian institution would seek to
mislead others by hiding their bigotry under the guise of charity
and religious principles.
And the White House is involved not only in plotting a way to promote
bigotry, but also in asking the American people to pay for discrimination
with our tax dollars."
Matt Coles, Director of the ACLU Lesbian & Gay Rights Project, noted:
"The federal government's record on civil rights throughout history has
been spotty, ranging from solid enforcement to non-enforcement. But
this is the first time the federal government will actually try to coerce
states and cities to allow discrimination as a condition of receiving
federal money.
"And it's all predicated on a big lie -- that religious
groups are
forced to hire lesbian and gay people. Right-wing groups and the White
House continue purposefully trying to blur the fact that religious groups
are exempt from gay rights laws -- unless they receive public funds."
The Log Cabin Republicans called on their peers in the gay and lesbian
movement, advising them not to believe that George W. Bush would broker
such a back room deal as has been charged in the troublesome Salvation
Army memo.
"A simple call to the White House, getting the facts before they jumped
to attack, could have avoided this day of misinformation," said a Log
Cabin statement to demonstrate its members’ support of George W. Bush’s
suspect strategy.
C-Span and a host of other TV news programs, showed Mr. Wade
Henderson, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil
Rights, supporting the positions taken by Ms. Winnie Stachelberg, the
Human Rights Campaign’s Political Director. While Henderson defined civil
rights protections as extending to all Americans, Stachelberg solemnly
charged :
"This kind of backroom deal--this quid pro quo arrangement--that
would allow religious organizations to circumvent civil rights laws
enacted
by elected officials in state and local municipalities is reprehensible,"
"It's amazing what some groups will do for 40 pieces of silver," sighed
the Reverend Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for
Separation of Church and State.
Lynn continued:
"Before dropping money in the Salvation Army's kettles next Christmas,
I'll be wondering whether my donation will be paying for a slick lobbying
campaign or soup."
_________________________
Of The Salvation Army's total 49,064 paid employees in the U.S.,
5,746 are in private religious jobs ... positions that are exempt from
laws
barring discrimination based on sexual orientation. And of the Salvation
Army's 9,037 total centers of operation in the U.S., 1,355 are centers of
worship -- private religious institutions that are exempt from laws
barring
discrimination based on sexual orientation. (Source: Salvation Army USA,
at http://www.christianity.com
)
Read Jack Nichols',
THE
GAY AGENDA, and see why it was named 1997 Outstanding Book by
Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America.
Tell them that Sister Taffy sent you.
Jack Nichols:
www.gaytoday.badpuppy.com/jackbio.htm
Oral Majority Online:
www.oralmajorityonline.com
Information about the Freedom Ride:
Bobkunst@mindspring.com
Telephone: 305-864-5110
Jack Nichols is the author of The Gay Agenda: Talking
Back to the Fundamentalists (Prometheus Books, 1996) Of Men’s
Liberation: A New Definition of Masculinity (Penguin Books, 1975) and
of Welcome to Fire Island: Visions of Cherry Grove and The Pines
(St. Martin’s Press, 1976)
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