As far as most people are concerned, the Salvation Army is a series of stores that sell discount goods by purchasing things cheaply from people who would otherwise just throw them out. Old clothes and piece of furniture that are out of style or no longer fit, but could help someone. This is a good thing. This is something that helps people.
So why does such an organization have to take stances on political issues? It's because of this terrible, awful belief that morality cannot exist without religion. And because of its religious nature, it feels the need to get political, because that's what religious organizations do in this country.
So, you have this organization that does good things going around telling gay people that they're sinful if they practice homosexuality, because the Bible says so. This is an organization, mind you, that calls itself the Salvation
Army because it is fighting a "war against sin." And now it's posting things like this about one specific sin, and trying to look compassionate just by saying it respects gays despite themselves and the fact that they are going to Hell if they attempt to enter a relationship of any kind.
"Love the sinner, hate the sin." It's one of the most frustrating defenses of religious intolerance. "Oh, I don't hate you, I just hate what you are."
Hitchens spoke of how religion poisons everything. The Salvation Army sits in a place in this culture where it could be one of the few truly good things. It is an organization that performs a service, that operates a very noble business, and then feels obligated to pump itself up as a religious entity by throwing gays under the bus in a "compassionate manner."
No one asked the Salvation Army to take a stance on this. No one has questioned their credentials. It's entirely unnecessary piling on, a thinly veiled statement of unity with its Christian brethren, a reminder that, "Hey, we too have religious chops." I can't see what else it is possibly good for.