On May 30th, The Human Rights Campaign applauded the
Philadelphia-based Boy Scouts of America council for expanding its
non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation. The unanimous
vote by the board of the Cradle of Liberty Council, the nation's third
largest BSA council, highlights the discriminatory nature of the group's
national anti-gay policy.
"The Cradle of Liberty Council sent a strong message to the
national group this month that honesty, service and leadership are
impossible skills to learn in a discriminatory environment,"said Seth
Kilbourn, HRC's national field director. "This move is a loud and clear
signal that safe and inclusive policies provide the richest settings for
young people to thrive in."
The Cradle of Liberty Council serves more than 87,000 members in
Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. According to The
Associated Press, the United Way organized talks that led to the vote
after they received complaints following the Supreme Court ruling in
June 2000 allowing the BSA to continue its ban on gay Scouts.
In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the New
Jersey Supreme Court decision that the BSA's ban on gays violated the
state's anti-discrimination ordinance. Since then, however, many groups
have cut off funding to their local BSA chapters due to the exclusionary
policy and its divergence with local non-discrimination laws.
Gov. Mark Schweiker, a Republican, signed an executive order May
3, 2002, that prohibits job discrimination based on sexual orientation
in public employment, but the law does not extend to private employment.
Fourteen states and the District of Columbia have such laws extending to
both private workplaces and public-sector jobs. In 1982, the city of
Philadelphia enacted its non-discrimination law prohibiting
discrimination based on sexual orientation in public and private
employment. The Girl Scouts of the USA also has a written
non-discrimination policy prohibiting sexual orientation-based
discrimination.
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