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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Supreme Court Ruling Yields Unexpected Lesson for Boy Scouts |
Current rating: 0 |
by Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
(No verified email address) |
22 Jun 2001
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One Year Later, Discrimination Still Outrages Americans
Editor's Note: Locally, the Girl Scouts have decided that they don't wish to share their local camp with the Boy Scouts because of their discriminatory polices, leading to a barrage of hate mail against them in the News-Gazette letters section. What these writers fail to realize is that the Supreme Court decision backs up the Girl Scouts right to associate with who they choose. They've chosen to associate with those who aren't bigots. |
NEW YORK - June 21 - In the year since the United States Supreme Court allowed the Boy Scouts of America to ban gay members, America is responding with unprecedented outrage against gay discrimination.
"We've never seen this kind of opposition to anti-gay discrimination from such a diverse array of people," said Lambda Executive Director Kevin M. Cathcart. "Parents, religious groups, corporations, cities, and schools agree: the Boy Scouts may have a legal right to discriminate, but that doesn't make discrimination right."
One year ago, the Supreme Court ruled in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale against Lambda's argument on behalf of James Dale. An exemplary Eagle Scout, Dale was kicked out of Scouting after BSA learned he was gay.
"The public is sending the message that anti-gay discrimination is un-American and unhealthy for all kids," Cathcart said, pointing to charities that cut BSA financial support, parents who put their kids in youth groups that don't discriminate, and growing demands for reversal of BSA policy.
Recently, BSA council presidents and board chairmen from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, West Los Angeles, Orange County, Calif., San Francisco, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Boston urged BSA to change its policy so that "membership and leadership positions are open to persons regardless of their sexual orientation," at BSA's recent national meeting.
Also rejecting the anti-gay policy are the American Medical Association, and many school systems, religious organizations, corporations, United Way chapters, and individual scouts and troops. For example:
-- The American Medical Association adopted a resolution stating that youth groups should lift bans on membership for gay youth because these bans contribute to anxiety and depression among gay youth and are bad public health policy;
-- Fimmaker Steven Spielberg stepped down from an advisory board of the BSA, saying he is "deeply saddened" by BSA's policy, adding, "It's a real shame;"
-- Seven Cub Scout packs in Oak Park, Ill., were expelled from Scouting for refusing to discriminate;
-- Public schools in cities ranging from Chicago, Minneapolis, San Diego, and New York City to Chapel Hill, N.C., and Framingham, Mass., have taken action including eliminating the Boy Scouts' special privilege to distribute literature in schools and ending sponsorship of BSA troops;
-- The Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism called on Jewish families and synagogues to sever ties with BSA;
Contact Lambda for a fuller list.
Said Lambda Senior Staff Attorney David Buckel, who worked on the Dale case, "The Scouts' discriminatory policy tells gay youth that they are unworthy, that there is something wrong with them. Thankfully, people across the country are countering that damage and helping these young people stand up with pride."
Lambda is the oldest and largest legal organization dedicated to the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, and people with HIV and AIDS. In addition to its headquarters, Lambda has regional offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta and will open an office in Dallas in 2002. |
See also:
http://www.lambdalegal.org/
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