A local community member has found himself banned from commenting on The Court Hotel’s Facebook page after questioning the venue’s suggestion that its patrons should consider donating to the Salvation Army’s Christmas appeal.
On December 21 The Court Hotel posted to both its Facebook page and Twitter account, ‘COMMUNITY NEWS The Salvation Army would love you to donate to their xmas (sic) appeal if you are thinking of a more thoughtful gift this year’ alongside a link to the faith based charity.
Tom Reynolds, one of the venue’s regular patrons, questioned the appropriateness of a gay and lesbian venue asking its clientele to support an organisation that has a clear policy that homosexual practices are unacceptable. Underneath the hotel’s post Reynolds posted a link to the Salvation Army’s position statement on homosexuality and asked, ‘Seriously, why is a gay club promoting a charity run by religious bigots?’
Reynolds told OUTinPerth he was not surprised to see the venue supporting the Salvation Army because many people are unaware of their position on homosexuality,
‘A lot of people don’t know about the Salvation Army and their position on gay, lesbian and bi-sexual people. So I just thought I would make a point by providing them [The Court Hotel] that information and querying why they support them.’
Reynolds says he’s was disappointed when the status update and his comments were deleted from the venue’s Facebook page without explanation and he was barred from commenting further.
‘I’m not surprised. I’ve heard people make similar comments about the management style of the Court since it was bought by the new management. I’ve been to the Court for many years, I really enjoy it there, I support it, there is obviously an attitude and viewpoint in the management that I think demonstrates how divorced they are from the community that they try to entice in to run their business.’
Bree Day, the owner of The Court Hotel, has endorsed the venue’s support of the Salvation Army telling OUTinPerth,
‘We chose to promote the link as despite the Salvation Army’s religious viewpoints, we believe they do good work in helping people especially during the festive season. In the spirit of Christmas we are willing to overlook their naive views and instead take the higher ground and focus on the good work they do.
‘We, like the community, abhor any form of discrimination or persecution based on a person’s sexuality however instead of responding to viewpoints like these with hatred, we choose to respond with education and encouragement towards a more enlightened and modern viewpoint.’
Day defended the venues action of deleting the post,
‘Our Facebook manager deleted the post as he felt it was not an appropriate discussion to have on the forum as he wished to keep our page on a positive note in the lead up to Christmas. We appreciate all form of healthy debate but will delete posts that we feel are abusive or threatening as posts like that do not further or encourage healthy debate.’
Reynolds is concerned about the way the venue manages their social media interaction and does not think his views should have been censored,
‘I don’t think that was appropriate because I haven’t violated any of the terms and conditions of Facebook and The Court haven’t provided any terms and conditions in their social media moderation policy. ‘
Following enquiries from OUTinPerth the Court Hotel has removed the Twitter post promoting the Salvation Army from their timeline and told OUTinPerth that they will be unblocking Mr Reynolds from their Facebook page.
Are the Salvation Army bigots?
The religious based charity organisation clearly states its position on homosexuality on its website. The organisation’s position statement has been in place since 1996. While the organisation recognises same sex attracted people and says the origins of same sex attraction are unknown, they also suggest celibacy and restraint for homosexual people – drawing a clear line between attraction and actions.
Warren Palmer, the Communications and Fundraising Secretary of the Salvation Army in Western Australia, explained to OUTinPerth that while their position statements have a biblical basis they do not play a part in the roll out of the organisation’s charitable endevours,
‘The Salvation Army in the social work of our organisation assists people of all race, colour or sexual preference. In fact the question of sexual orientation is never asked at any time when people seek our help.
‘This being the case, when the community supports The Salvation Army through the Christmas Appeal or generally through The Red Shied Appeal, the funds or gifts collected are not used on a selected basis for people based on any of a discriminatory criteria (like above), but purely on the need presented.’
Palmer highlights that ‘meeting need without discrimination’ is part of the organisation’s mission statement but encourages members of the GLBTIQ population to make their own decision about the organisation.
While the Salvation Army’s current official global policy statement on homosexuality has been in place since 1996 homosexuality is an issue the organisation appears to be re-examining. A YouTube video made by the Salvation Army earlier this year featuring Perth based social worker Matt Pearse and US preacher Jay Bakker reexamines the issue. The study guide provided to accompany the video asks if the church should start to embrace the gay community.
Let us know your thoughts on this topic by posting on our Facebook page or emailing editor@outinperth.com
Graeme Watson
