The White House swiftly ended its consideration of a proposed regulation that would protect government-funded religious charities from state and local laws that prohibit workplace discrimination. The measure, requested by the Salvation Army, would have allowed religious charities to discriminate against gays and lesbians in their hiring procedures.
The Washington Post broke a front page story yesterday concerning an internal Salvation Army document in which the White House made a “firm commitment to issue a regulation protecting government-funded religious charities from hiring discrimination laws.” Meanwhile, as the nation’s largest charity, the Salvation Army agreed to spend between $88,000 and $110,000 a month to support President Bush’s faith-based initiative.
Democrats in the House will investigate whether the White House had agreed to allow the Salvation Army to discriminate against gays in exchange for the charity’s support.
