US: World Vision board member resigns in protest over gay staff ban
A World Vision board member has stepped down in protest over the Christian charity’s decision to reinstate a ban on married gay staff.
Jacquelline Fuller, who is director of corporate giving for Google, told Associated Press she had stepped down from the World Vision board “as I disagreed with the decision to exclude gay employees who marry”, but that she remains a “huge fan” of their anti-poverty work.
World Vision spokesman Steve Panton confirmed that no other board members had resigned, and that the board would meet again within the next few days “to assess our past and future actions”.
The Christian charity came to attention last Monday, when they announced they would allow gay staff for the first time, if they were in same-sex marriages.
This led to a surge of support from the LGBT community, but after harsh reactions from conservatives, who threatened to cancel their sponsorships, two days later the ban was put back in place, apologising for the “the pain and confusion” allowing gay staff had caused.
World Vision is one of the largest Christian charities in the world, providing disaster and other forms of aid to 250 million people annually. It operates in nearly 100 countries worldwide and has revenue of approximately $2.79 billion (£1.69bn).
