Doing programs for young people is wonderful, and, as
a former Scout Leader for both girls and boys, I can
affirm there is much merit in having programs
available through museums for the young people in
which to learn.
With that said, the following article I forwarded to
myself from the NY Times for use in discussion on
another list. I'm not taking a position one way or
another about the subject matter itself on this one.
However, sometimes, in the development area,
sensitive/controversial subjects do have an impact on
funding and the programs presented. I feel I would be
remiss if I did not let you know what others are doing
so that you can make your own decisions as to whether
or not you want to put on special programs for Boy
Scouts.
Scouts' Successful Ban on Gays Is Followed by Loss in
Support
August 29, 2000
By KATE ZERNIKE
In the two months since the United States Supreme
Court ruled that
the Boy Scouts of America have a constitutional
right to exclude
gays, corporate and governmental support for the
organization has
slipped markedly.
Chicago, San Francisco and San Jose, Calif., have
told local
Scout troops that they can no longer use parks,
schools and
other municipal sites. Companies like Chase
Manhattan Bank and
Textron Inc., have withdrawn hundreds of thousands
of dollars in
support to local and national scouting groups
nationwide. Dozens of
United Ways from Massachusetts to San Francisco
have cut off
money amounting to millions of dollars each year.
And Connecticut, in what may become a test case,
has banned
contributions to the Scouts by state employees
through a state-run
charity. The state is also considering whether to
block the
Scouts from using public campgrounds or buildings.
"It's a watershed issue," said C. Joan Parker,
assistant counsel
to the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and
Opportunities,
which must issue a ruling by Nov. 8 on whether the
Scouts violate
state antidiscrimination laws.
If the commission rules that the group does violate
those laws,
the Boy Scouts would be prevented from using any
public
facilities.
"We have to decide, Are we aiding and abetting
someone that
discriminates?" Ms. Parker said. "Clearly, any
public entity
needs to have clean hands."
Gregg Shields, a national spokesman for the Scouts,
said the
organization respected the right of private
companies to donate
only to groups of their choice. But the
organization is suing
the State of Connecticut to restore state
employees' ability to
donate to the Scouts, and Mr. Shields said his
group would fight
to maintain access to public schools and public
places in other
states as well.
"The Boy Scouts of America since 1910 have taught
traditional
family values," Mr. Shields said. "We feel that an
avowed
homosexual isn't a role model for those values."
For public and private officials around the
country, the problem
is a complex and painful one. On the one hand, they
do not want
to cut off valuable opportunities for the young or
run afoul of
First Amendment principles. On the other hand, by
allowing a
group that bans gays to use public facilities and
supporting it,
they violate their anti discrimination statutes.
The trim uniform of the Boy Scouts has become
almost a cherished
national symbol. But at a time when same-sex
benefits, diversity
training and nondiscrimination policies have become
routine, some
companies and organizations say the Scouts' refusal
to admit gays
has come to seem almost un-American.
"Their position is, on the face of it, in conflict
with our
commitment and our values on diversity," said Jim
Finn, a
spokesman for Chase, which had contributed about
$200,000 annually
to the Boy Scouts until stopping it last month.
The Supreme Court ruled in June by a 5-to-4 vote
that the
organization had a constitutional right to exclude
gays because
opposition to homosexuality is part of the
organization's
"expressive message."
The decision overturned a ruling last year by the
New Jersey
Supreme Court that applied the state's law against
discrimination
in public accommodations to require a New Jersey
Scout troop to
readmit a longtime member and assistant
scoutmaster, James Dale,
whom it had dismissed after learning he is gay.
But the ruling did not address the merits of the
ban on gays, only
whether the Boy Scouts is a private group, and so
has the right
to set its own membership rules.
The Scouts, whose membership has grown to 6.2
million, said that
the group's charter since 1910 had promoted "family
values," and
that its oath pledged a "morally straight" life. A
homosexual, the organization said, is not the
proper role model
for those values.
While the decisions to withhold support will not
seriously dent
the $125 million raised annually by the Scouts
national
organization, the growing effort to block local
chapters from
meeting in places like public schools and state
campgrounds raises
practical problems for the Scouts. Since the
ruling, many
public bodies, charities and companies, including
Merrill Lynch,
are beginning the discussion that has taken place
in Hartford.
The options, they say, are equally unpleasant:
hurting children
who are benefiting from scouting, or supporting a
position they
find ethically untenable.
"Do we just cut off funding, and so hundreds of
kids in Hartford
aren't getting a program they so desperately need?"
asked Susan
Dunn, senior vice president of the United Way of
the Capital
Area. "Our mission is to serve our community,
especially
children. But it's also in our mission that we
don't
discriminate. That's where it becomes difficult."
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit
against the
city of San Diego on Monday asking a federal court
to revoke a
50-year-old agreement that lets the Scouts lease 18
acres of
parkland for $1 a year. The lease is set to expire
in 2007.
In Fall River, Mass., the executive director of the
local United
Way, Bob Horne, said he was stunned at how swiftly
and strongly
his board had acted to cut support to any Scout
troops that did
not sign a form saying they would not endorse the
Scouts' ban on
gays.
"I thought that some people would try to skirt the
issue," Mr.
Horne said. "But attendance was unbelievable, the
best attendance
we've had all year. It could not have been a more
unanimous,
enthusiastic vote. Obviously, there was concern for
the kids,
but it all came down to we really have an
obligation to do the
right thing."
More than half the population of Fall River, an old
mill city,
has Portuguese immigrants in its background, and an
influx of
Cambodians has arrived in the past few years.
"With those growing groups," Mr. Horne said,
"people are being
more aware of diversity and doing things right and
being fair
and not setting up separate views, the idea that
people are
people. "People felt very strongly that we should
take this
step." Those who are eliminating or reconsidering
their support
are trying to respect, as the Supreme Court
affirmed, the Scouts'
right to set its own mission.
And cutting off money or access to one private
group raises more
questions, officials say. Do those same charities
then cut off
financing to groups chartered to serve, say,
Latinos? Do states
stop allowing Roman Catholic youth groups to use
public
campgrounds or school meeting rooms because the
church does not
ordain gays?
Among those debating whether to end support, some
are reluctant
to do so because they believe the local Scout
chapters do not
agree with the ban on gays, which was put into
effect by the
national organization.
"Everyone knows their work with kids is good, and
it's a policy
that's not commonly enforced," said Marty Milkovic,
executive
director of the United Way of Northern Fairfield
County, in
Connecticut.
Like chapters in many other cities, the
Southeastern New England
United Way in Providence, R.I., has said it will
require any
Scout council to sign a form saying it will not
discriminate.
But the Boy Scouts' Narragansett Council, which
receives $200,000
from the United Way, has said it must abide by the
national
policy. And Mr. Shields, the spokesman for the
national group, said
local councils were not allowed to disavow any part
of the
national charter, so the councils are not allowed
to sign any
nondiscrimination policy that would require them to
admit gays.
Troops that disobey the national charter could face
eviction.
Within the local councils, though, there is
increasing dissent
from the policy. Scouting for All, a group started
by a
15-year-old scout in California, that advocates
opening up the
organization to gays, held a national protest day
outside Boy
Scout headquarters in several cities last week. In
Montclair,
N.J., parents in a local Cub Scout troop are
signing a petition
saying they do not endorse the national policy.
In New Milford, Conn., Gale Alexander said he and
his wife were
torn about whether to allow their 9-year-old son to
remain in the
Boy Scouts. They like the skills and
self-confidence the program
has taught but, Mr. Alexander said, "I couldn't
look at my
friends if I couldn't stand up and say this is not
right."
So as a compromise, the Alexanders are letting
their son continue
scouting, but they have decided to become vocal in
their
opposition to the policy. In conversations, they
have discovered
that other parents do not agree with it, either.
"The idea that all the rank and file is just fine
with this is
just a bunch of malarkey," Mr. Alexander said.
"It's time now
for parents to speak up and say, I don't agree with
it. It's
time for people to start fighting from within."
The New York Times on the Web
http://www.nytimes.com
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--- Aaron Marcavitch <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
The boy scouts (the older ones)
> have
> merit badges in american heritage, plus many more
> that
> might be specific to a site (Railroading merit badge
> for a Train Museum, etc.) The cub scouts have plenty
> of activity pins that could be tailor fit.
=====
Indigo Nights
[log in to unmask]
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