Ringing endorsements

Bell epoch

by Dorie Clark

Senator Ted Kennedy rang the bell for the Salvation Army last Friday in front of the downtown Macy's, but his turn at the kettle puts two of the liberal stalwart's best-known causes -- the war on poverty and the fight for gay rights -- at odds. The do-gooder organization has been feeding, clothing, and sheltering the poor since 1878. But its anti-gay views came to widespread public notice two years ago, when the Salvation Army gave up its contracts with the city of San Francisco rather than adhere to a policy requiring the group to provide benefits -- including health insurance and pensions -- to domestic partners of gay employees.

Kennedy isn't the only Bay State pol to help the organization. In fact, the 10-year-old Celebrity Bell Ringers program has drawn a who's who of Commonwealth celebs. This year, Boston mayor Tom Menino, Governor Paul Cellucci, and Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift have already rung, and the state's junior senator, John Kerry, will take his turn on Monday. Speaker of the House Tom Finneran is also scheduled to help sometime in the next two weeks. All of the above, with the exception of Finneran and possibly Cellucci, are considered supporters of gay rights. In 1998, Menino even issued an executive order granting domestic-partnership benefits to city employees (although the order was later overturned by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court).

The holiday message from Kennedy's camp is that Christmas is a time to get past ideology. "Senator Kennedy understands the important work the Salvation Army does and wants to support their efforts even though he disagrees with their public positions on other issues," says spokesman Will Keyser. "First and foremost, it's about helping those in need." Even the Human Rights Campaign, a national gay political group, agrees. "We have issues with the Salvation Army," says communications director David Smith, "but they obviously do a lot of good."