Stephanie Miller, host of cabler
Current's Talking Liberally, has apologized for allowing the
Salvation Army to claim it's not anti-gay on her show.
When Major George Hood explained to
Miller that discrimination against gay men and lesbians would violate
the organization's mission, Miller did not challenge the assertion.
Hood also claimed that the Salvation Army does not give to anti-gay
causes or discriminate against hiring gays. He blamed the Internet
for such falsehoods.
On Wednesday, Miller, who is openly
gay, apologized in a statement.
“Where I screwed up was in not doing
more research about the Salvation Army's long and checkered history
involving LGBTQ people and our issues. I sincerely apologize for
that.”
“When I returned from the
Thanksgiving holiday, I learned a lot more – much of of it from
friends like John Aravosis at America Blog and Michelangelo Signorile
at Sirius OutQ – and I decided that, effective immediately, Talking
Liberally and The Stephanie Miller Show would no longer be
a part of the Salvation Army’s Online Red Kettle Campaign.”
“Please understand that I do believe
the Salvation Army does much good work in the world and I also
believe in redemption. I sincerely hope they will change their
mission statement and policies regarding the LGBTQ community and I am
very willing to continue that dialogue with them.”
“Through yesterday, your generosity
has raised $1,150 for the Salvation Army in the Stephanie Miller Red
Kettle.”
“I am now going to personally match
that amount with a donation to the Trevor Project, whose work and
mission I can endorse without any reservation. The Trevor Project
provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ
youth.”
In 2001, the Salvation Army lobbied the
Bush administration to allow religious non-profits to engage in
hiring discrimination against gay men and lesbians. The
Washington Post quoted Hood as saying that on the question of
hiring gays, “it really begins to chew away at the theological
fabric of who we are.”
(Related: Salvation
Army's George Hood denies anti-gay allegations.)