Dan Doty
Notably, KCTV5 did so without mentioning the Mission’s policy on housing gay couples.
In a November story–“Legally married same-sex couples won’t be allowed to stay together at City Union Mission”–that’s all the Kansas City Star wanted to talk about.
Anticipating the possibility that same sex marriage might one day become legal in Kansas and Missouri–if it does, almost assuredly by judicial fiat–the Star apparently wanted the Mission’s liberal donors to know that this deeply Christian non-profit would not house gay couples as couples.
“We want to stay true to our biblical convictions,” executive director Dan Doty told the Star. “Yet we do love all people. We do shelter men who are gay, and lesbian women, and transgender people.”
The Star then highlighted all the local charities that would house gay couples.
Nowhere in this hypothetical exercise did the reader learn of an actual gay married homeless couple that sought out shelter locally. Thus we’re not sure that such a couple exists.
What made the Star hit piece particularly troubling for the City Union Mission is that it’s a private, non-profit that receives no local, state or federal money. Its leadership has no interest in creating controversy. For nearly a century it has depended on the goodwill of all Kansas Citians. Many of those donations come in the month before Christmas, just about the time the article was published.
Doty does not regret his board’s decision, but privately he acknowledges that honoring Christian tradition has peeled away some donors.
Rich Steele is a citizen journalist and head of the NSAAS (Non-Smokers Against Anti-Smoking).
“We want to stay true to our biblical convictions,” executive director Dan Doty told the Star. “Yet we do love all people. We do shelter men who are gay, and lesbian women, and transgender people.”
You can’t have it both ways, Dan. The Bible considers homosexuality as wrong. If staying true to your “biblical convictions” then you should not allow any gays, lesbians, or transgenders to stay there. Or conversely, and more rightly in my mind, if you ARE going to admit LGBT persons, then admit the couples too.
Perhaps taking a page from Pope Francis about tolerance and service would be in order?
werd. Accept all or none.
Judge the sin, not the sinner.
that is exactly what City Union Mission is doing. Love the sinner, hate the sin. or Judge the sin, not the sinner. The Mission is accepting and admiting all regardless of their “sin”. What they aren’t allowing is the “sin” to be acted upon in their mission.
they do admit the couples. they don’t allow the couples to sleep together. LGBT couples are welcome to seek services at City Union Mission. Anybody is. Its also worth mentioning that any couple wishing to sleep together need provide a marriage license. i’m not sure how many homeless folks have marriage licenses so i don’t figure many couples hetero or otherwise are sleeping together.
The bottom line … the KC Star made up a story to promote an agenda. Is that the kind of media we want or deserve? In totalitarian states what the Star has done is called propaganda. Other media who believe in free speech need to call out the Star for what they’ve done.
The Star is welcome to open their own shelter, and they can run it as they see fit.
What I’d really like to see from The Star is less agenda and more attention to dealing with the news and current events in a fair and even-handed manner. That means not going out of its way to make someone or something look bad, thereby subjecting that someone or something to “trial by social media”.