LGBT
Related: About this forumSalvation Army Refuses Housing Shelter To Transgender Woman
Back in March, Jodielynn Wiley fled her life in Paris, Texas. Because she is transgender, she had received death threats and had found dead animals left on her front porch. When she asked the police for help, they told her, Being the way you are, you should expect that. Wiley landed in Dallas, where she found emergency shelter at the Carr P. Collins Social Service Center, run by the Salvation Army.
As she reached the end of her 30-day stay at the emergency shelter, Wiley sought other long-term shelter options. One such option was the a two-year housing program run by the Salvation Army, which several other women from the Collins Center had recently entered. According to the Dallas Voice, when she interviewed for the program with her case worker, Wiley was told she was disqualified because she had not had gender reassignment surgery:
After I said no, she said, Well, thats why we cant give you a room. It was putting me in an uncomfortable situation and very rude. Her counselor then changed the story and claimed that there was a waiting list, but Wiley says that two women who arrived at the emergency shelter after she did had already entered the longer program.
Wiley has now filed a complaint with Dallass Fair Housing Office, which protects against discrimination on the basis of gender identity. At stake seems to be an exception in the housing nondiscrimination law, which allows for discrimination on the basis of sex when the dwelling contains common lavatory, kitchen, or similar facilities available for the use of all persons occupying the dwelling. The space Wiley was vying for was gender segregated, and so the outcome of the complaint may depend on whether the spirit of the law is to create an exception to discriminate based on an individuals genitalia or whether to simply allow for gender-specific spaces for safety purposes. The intake staff may also have simply violated the Salvation Armys own policies about respecting trans identities.
In the meantime, Wiley has found a place to stay through the Shared Housing Project, a new program started by the Trans Pride Initiative. The novel project aims to find trans people with housing who are willing to support those without.
more
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2014/05/04/3433957/salvation-army-transgender-shelter/
I have donated so much to them over the years- furniture, clothing, etc. That is now over with big time. Kindness and compassion should not be restricted to anyone in need of help.
pinto
(106,886 posts)Glad to see she found a successful housing resource.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)Doing good for some while being hateful towards others does not equal doing good.
theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)I stopped giving some years ago because of their bigoted policies. There are plenty of charities in need out there so I'm more careful now about my giving.