Salvation Army: Still Not Getting The LGBTQ Community

According to SalvationArmyUSA.org (https://is.gd/5gbSBu), “Almost one-third of transgender people have been rejected from an emergency shelter. The Salvation Army created a dorm in Las Vegas to offer safety and shelter to this group, which is statistically more vulnerable to assault.” While this statistic may be true, the organization cites one chapter in one city— which is a city far more progressive than much of the rest of the country—where transgender people can go to be safe while staying in an emergency shelter. The transgender community can be found in every city in every state. What is the organization’s common practice and employee training to ensure that some of the most vulnerable among us are safe in all of shelters across America, not just in Las Vegas? The Salvation Army’s site also reads (https://is.gd/5gbSBu), “LGBTQ youth contemplate suicide at almost three times the rate of heterosexual youth.” They state that with their “presence in every zip code in the nation,” they are “committed to providing spiritual and emotional care to those in need regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity.” As a Christian Evangelical organization, do they affirm and support LGBTQ identity or seek to change it? Personally, I would be very concerned to send an LGBTQ person to the organization without knowing exactly what their practices are in these situations. Clearly, how an LGBTQ youth is provided “spiritual and emotional care” widely varies based on belief and affirmation of LGBTQ existence and understanding. Perhaps the most disconcerting effort from the organization regarding their attempt to prove LGBTQ inclusion was when three statistics (https://is.gd/5gbSBu) were used on the on the LGBTQ page of the national website as a prompt to donate to the organization. One of those stats read … “Almost one-third of homeless transgender people have been rejected from an emergency shelter. When a transgender person seeks help from us, we serve them in the same manner as any other person seeking assistance. A donation to The Salvation Army can provide three nights of shelter. Donate now.” On that very page (https://is.gd/5gbSBu) is also where they explained that their Las Vegas shelter was the only one (or at least the only one cited by the organization) equipped to meet the needs of the trans community.