PORTLAND, Ore. -- During the holiday season many local groups come together to help those in need.
But collecting coats for the homeless led to a heated debate when a group making an offer was turned down.
Officials from the Portland Rescue Mission said 'no' to a group that puts on its 'Queer Quistmas' presentation each year, a show which features cross-dressing actors.
Its organizers wanted to use the Mission's name and logo for collecting coat donations, but was turned down.
A voicemail left for the group said the Mission's a faith-based organization and has some concern with how the affiliation might come across to some of its donors.
Queer Quistmas organizers said they were shocked.
“We're not going to let you use our logo or anything because we're afraid that our donors are going to find it offensive,” said Jeffrey Darling, Queer Quistmas organizer. “I might do a lot of offensive things, but having a coat drive is not one of them.”
Brian Merrell of the Portland Rescue Mission said the decision doesn’t come down to an issue of beliefs or values.
“All kinds of organizations we've just had to respectfully decline based on how we're doing our marketing,” Merrell said.
Officials from the Portland Rescue Mission said they will still accept coats collected by the group.
Queer Quistmas members say they'll still collect the coats for the homeless- but they'll donate through another organization.
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