Background on the
Boy Scouts' Discrimination
Against Gay Troop Leaders and Gay Scouts

The Boy Scouts exclude "avowed homosexuals" from its ranks [that includes a ban on both gay troop leaders and gay scouts], maintaining they violate the Scouting oath to be "morally straight" and the Scouting law to be "clean." (Reuters, 11/29/00)

"Contradictory information from BSA representatives at the convention makes the official BSA policy on homosexuality unclear, he said. The BSA policy 'is not stated in their bylaws, their rules and regulations, or their procedures for maintaining standards of membership, nor in any leader manual or handbook that boys and parents use, nor in any training course or syllabus, nor in the application,' [Episcopal Bishop Arthur Williams, bishop suffragan of Ohio] said. 'They state that they support traditional family values, but they have not defined what they mean when they use the term family values.' " (Episcopal News Service, 7/16/00)

WHAT THE BOY SCOUTS SAY ABOUT GAYS

"We also think that men who are promiscuous and those with DWI convictions do not make good role models," said Gregg Shields, spokesman for the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America in Irving, Texas. (Kansas City Star, 3/21/01)

Gregg Shields, national spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America, said homosexuality does not fit into the group's oath, in which Scouts pledge to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.  "An avowed homosexual wouldn't be a role model for those values," Shields said. (Washington Post, 7/6/00)

"The Boy Scouts of America have always taught traditional American values. An avowed homosexual is not a role model for those values," said Gregg Shields, a spokesman at the group's national headquarters near Dallas. (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 7/22/01)

NO BASIS FOR POLICY: OTHER YOUTH GROUPS DON'T BAN GAYS

"The Girls Scouts of America, the YMCA, 4-H clubs, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Jewish community groups, don't exclude gays." (USA Today, 10/10/00)

Canada's Boy Scouts permit gay troops. (Toronto Globe and Mail, 6/19/00)

FAIR-MINDED AMERICANS ARE DROPPING THE SCOUTS

In September 2000 alone, "the Scouts lost nearly $530,000 in public money and charitable aid as one local government after another voted to end relations with the group because it excludes gay people." (USA Today, 10/10/00)

A sampling of who's repudiated the Boy Scouts:

49 UNITED WAYS STOP FUNDING THE SCOUTS

• At least 49 United Ways have stopped funding the Boy Scouts because of their anti-gay policy.  They include: Dallas (TX), New Haven (CT), Orlando (FL), Boston (MA), Raleigh/Durham (NC), Providence (RI), Cleveland (OH), Madison (WI), and Seattle (WA).  A comprehensive list of all 49 United Ways is here.
• This fact is confirmed by the Chronicle of Philanthropy: "An April (2001) report by the Chronicle of Philanthropy estimated that more than 50 of the 400 largest United Ways have either dropped the Boy Scouts from their rosters, limited donations or changed pledge forms to allow people to prohibit donations from being used to support Scouting." (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 7/22/01)

GOVERNMENT ENTITIES DROP THE SCOUTS

• The Los Angeles City Council voted 11 to 0 to cut the city's ties with the Boy Scouts of America, saying the group's exclusion of homosexuals and atheists was discriminatory.  LA City Councilman Mike Feuer said: "Nobody, including the Boy Scouts ... has articulated what the difference is between discriminating on the basis of race, on the one hand, which they would agree ought never happen, and discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation. (Reuters, 11/29/00)
• In New York City, which has the largest school system in the United States, one community school district in Manhattan has withdrawn its support of the Scouts, and other districts may follow. (National Post (Canada), 12/29/00)
• In the year 2000, the state of Connecticut dropped the Boy Scouts from a list of charities that state employees can contribute to via payroll deduction. (Associated Press, 7/29/02)
• Most California public high schools have withdrawn sponsorship of local scout troops.  "If they are sponsoring ... a Boy Scout troop, the California Education Code expressly prohibits that sort of affiliation because it would discriminate," said California State department of education spokeswoman Nicole Winger. (Oakland Tribune, 8/9/02)
• Chicago, San Francisco and San Jose, Calif., have told local Scout troops that they can no longer use parks, schools and other municipal sites. (New York Times, 8/29/00)
• San Francisco's judges cut all ties with the Boy Scouts.  (San Francisco Chronicle, 7/16/02)
• In December, 2000, the Los Angeles Unified School District began the process to limit Boy Scout activity on campuses -- such as recruiting -- and to require troops that use school facilities to sign statements renouncing the national anti-gay policy.  (Las Vegas Sun, 1/7/01)
• The Minneapolis school board voted unanimously to end its sponsorship of Boy Scout troops and to prohibit the Scouts from recruiting new members in the public schools. The board cited the nondiscrimination policy, which includes sexual orientation among its protections. (Education Week, 10/25/00)
  
  PRIVATE BUSINESSES DROP THE SCOUTS
  
  
• Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg stepped down Monday from an advisory board of the Boy Scouts of America, saying that he could no longer associate with a group that engages in "discrimination" - an apparent reference to scouting's exclusion of gays. "The last few years in scouting have deeply saddened me to see the Boy Scouts of America actively and publicly participating in discrimination. It's a real shame," Spielberg said in a statement... "I have consistently spoken out publicly and privately against intolerance and discrimination based on ethnic, religious, racial and sexual orientation," Spielberg said. Marvin Levy, Spielberg's spokesman, said the director was opposed to the exclusion of gays or any other group from scouting.  (Reuters, 4/16/01)
• Several corporations have also cut support, including Chase Manhattan Bank, Levi-Strauss & Co. and Textron Inc. Wells Fargo severed ties in the early 1990s and recently asked the United Way to steer its US$400,000 donation away from the Boy Scouts. "The Boy Scouts are as American as apple pie, but this was an easy decision to make," said Tom Unger, a Wells Fargo spokesman. "We really have to, as a company, return to what our core vision and values are, and that's to not discriminate."  (National Post (Canada), 12/29/00).
• Novell Inc. will no longer match employee contributions to the Boy Scouts of America, citing the youth organization's exclusion of homosexual scoutmasters as a violation of the company's anti-discrimination policies. "Novell has criteria for organizations that can participate [in the campaign]. It is a fairly standard line about not discriminating on the basis of race, religion or sexual orientation," Novell spokesman Bruce Lowry said Friday. "The Boy Scouts of America no longer complies with that requirement, based on the Supreme Court decision." (Salt Lake Tribune, 11/11/00)
• The CVS Pharmacy chain stopped funding the Boy Scouts in September, 2001.
• Carrier Corporation has stopped funding the Boy Scouts.  (Associated Press, 4/3/02).
• HSBC bank stops supporting Boy Scouts. (Buffalo News, 3/13/02).
• Scripps Networks has asked the United Way to exclude the Boy Scouts of America from their corporate gift. (Knoxville News-Sentinel, 10/25/2001)
• "It is with sadness that we now take action to sever ties between CWA and the Boy Scouts of America until such time as its leaders reverse their policy of excluding gays from membership or volunteer activities in scouting.  This policy by the Boy Scouts organization is an appalling step backward at a time when other American institutions - churches, corporations, school systems, even the military - are moving in a more enlightened direction to banish discrimination against people because of their sexual orientation. Teaching intolerance is a very poor lesson for our youth - one that we must challenge. We urge Boy Scouts of America leaders to reconsider and drop this policy. In the meantime, CWA calls upon its local unions and members to refrain from supporting or participating in activities of the Boy Scouts." - (Communications Workers of America press release, April 2001)

RELIGIOUS GROUPS DROP THE SCOUTS

• Reform Jewish leaders are recommending that parents withdraw their children from membership in the Boy Scouts of America and that synagogues end their sponsorship of Scout troops.  In a memorandum to congregations dated Jan. 5, 2001, the Joint Commission on Social Action of the Reform movement asked congregations to sever ties to the Boy Scouts, or at least publicly protest the Scouts' policy by withdrawing financial support or asking local Scout groups to rewrite their charters.  The Reform movement represents 40 percent of the America's 6 million Jews.  (New York Times, 1/10/01)
• The Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ in Madison has withdrawn its sponsorship of a Boy Scout troop because of the national organization' s policy excluding gay Scouts and leaders. The congregation felt stopping its sponsorship of the local troop was necessary, said the Rev. Winton Boyd, the congregation' s pastor. "The Scouting policy is inconsistent with our policy of affirming and welcoming gay and lesbian people," Boyd said. (Associated Press, 2/13/01)
• The [Episcopal] Rev. Robert Bryant (California) pointed out that the BSA's policy affects not only gay scouts and scoutmasters but their heterosexual relatives, and, in some cases, the clergy in parishes sponsoring scout troops. "What is a young boy to think when his Eagle Scout father is unable to provide leadership in his troop?" asked Bryant. "What is a young boy who idolizes his big brother to think when that brother is expelled from the Boy Scouts? What is a young boy to think who wants to achieve his 'God and Country' award, when he finds out that his own pastor, who is gay or lesbian, is not deemed appropriate to provide leadership, and yet the Scouts require that supervision?" (Episcopal News Service, 7/10/00)

GROUPS WHO SUPPORTED LEGAL EFFORT TO OVERTURN BOY SCOUT GAY BAN (partial list)

Legal and Civil Rights Groups

• ACLU
• Anti-Defamation League
• Human Rights Campaign
• Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund
• NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
• National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium
• People for the American Way Foundation

Women's Groups

• National Council of Jewish Women
• NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, National Women's Law Center

Education Groups

• American Federation of Teachers
• National Education Association
• American Association of School Administrators
• New York City Board of Education
• Los Angeles Unified School District

Religious-Oriented Groups

• American Jewish Congress
• Deans of Divinity Schools and Rabbinical Institutions
• The General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist Church
• The United Church Board for Homeland Ministries
• The Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism

Professional Associations

• American Bar Association
• American Psychological Association
• American Publish Health Association
• National Association of Social Workers

Cities

• Atlanta
• Chicago
• Los Angeles
• New York City
• Portland
• San Francisco
• Tucson

States

• New Jersey
• New York
• Attorney generals of California
• Attorney general of Hawaii
• Attorney general of Maryland
• Attorney general of Massachusetts
• Attorney general of New Hampshire
• Attorney general of New York
• Attorney general of Oklahoma
• Attorney general of Oregon
• Attorney general of Vermont
• Attorney general of Washington