Should Glee Have Been Collecting for the Salvation Army?

December 14, 2011

After watching last night’s Glee episode (loved the black and white cheesy Christmas special) I was left with a sour taste in my mouth as the episode ended with Fynn, Rachel, Sam, and Rory ringing bells in the typical way to get people to donate to the Salvation Army.

Don’t get me wrong I’m all for donating either time or money or both to charitable organizations (especially during the holiday season), just not one that is as homophobic as the Salvation Army. I found it doubly hypocritical that Rachel (who has two dads) and Fynn (who has a gay step-brother) were ringing away.

For those who don’t know the Salvation Army has refused to grant same-sex partner benefits to their employees in states where marriage is not legal, will actively discriminate against gays, lesbians, and trans people in need of their services, and has even refused money from cities because of domestic partnership laws (San Francisco 1998) and threatened to shut down soup kitchens rather than comply to the city’s legislation requiring firm to provide same-sex domestic partnership benefits to their employees (New York 2004).

According to the International Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) ”The Salvation Army does not only discriminate against gay and lesbian people, it also works politically against LGBT rights all over the world. In Sweden, e g, the Army has protested against the law that makes same-sex marriages legal, and against the inclusion of homosexuals in a law criminalizing incitement to hatred. Other examples of this type of behaviour in other countries were given in the programme.”

More information can also be found here - http://fromtheleft.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/boycott-the-salvation-army/.

I am surprised then that Glee would feature such a homophobic and discriminatory group on the show instead of more inclusive organizations like the United Way, UNICEF, or the Red Cross?