On the busiest shopping day of the year, activists targeted the Salvation Army for its anti-gay policies. The event was timed to coincide with one of the Army’s signature events, bell ringing on State Street on the day after Thanksgiving.
The Nov. 23 protest, at State and Randolph streets, was sponsored by the Glenview Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the Metropolitan Community Churches (Great Lakes District), and the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network.
“Protesters are upset over a series of recent anti-gay moves by the charity,” said CABN, “including [the recent] elimination of domestic-partners benefits for unmarried employees working in the Salvation Army’s Western Territory.”
“It is wrong when religious belief is used to discriminate against Jews, women, and African-Americans, as used to be common place,” said Bob Schwartz of the Chicago Anti-Bashing Network. “And it is wrong today when such belief is used to deny equality to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people.”