Salvation Army Claims No LGBT Discrimination After Ellie Goulding Spat

Ellie Goulding is slated to perform at the halftime show during the Thanksgiving football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Buffalo Bills, but now, that may not be happening.

The halftime show traditionally kicks off the Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign, their fundraising effort over the winter holidays. But after Goulding shared photos promoting her work with the Salvation Army on Instagram, fans drew her attention to the Christian charity’s tumultuous past with the LGBTQ community.

“Upon researching this, I have reached out to The Salvation Army and said that I would have no choice but to pull out unless they very quickly make a solid, committed pledge or donation to the LGBTQ community,” she wrote in a comment to one concerned fan.

“I am a committed philanthropist as you probably know, and my heart has always been in helping the homeless, but supporting an anti-LGBTQ charity is clearly not something I would ever intentionally do. Thank you for drawing my attention to this.”

For their part, The Salvation Army is pulling a Chick-fil-A and insisting that the idea that they are anti-LGBTQ is a long-perpetuated falsehood.

“With an organization of our size and history, myths can perpetuate. An individual’s sexual or gender identity, religion, or lifestyle has no bearing on our willingness to provide service,” said David Hudson, the National Commander of The Salvation Army. “We stand firmly behind our mission to meet human needs in His name without discrimination.”

While the well-known charity no longer publicly states on their website that they believe same-sex relationships are a sin, they’ve continued to be dogged by allegations of discrimination against gay and trans people in need as well as within their own ranks.

While Goulding hasn’t spoken out about the conflict since it hit the news, Fox News reports that Hudson is claiming the singer will still perform.

“We’d like to thank Ellie Goulding and her fans for shedding light on misconceptions and encouraging others to learn the truth about The Salvation Army’s mission to serve all, without discrimination,” he said.

So does this mean we’ll never hear anything about them discriminating against the LGBTQ community again? We can hope. But I wouldn’t hold your breath.