PHILADELPHIA – A Boy Scouts chapter in Philadelphia may have ousted just one gay scout in the decade since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the organization’s right to ban gays, but that doesn’t mean untold others haven’t been shut out, a c
PHILADELPHIA – A Boy Scouts chapter in Philadelphia may have ousted just one gay scout in the decade since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the organization’s right to ban gays, but that doesn’t mean untold others haven’t been shut out, a city lawyer told jurors Tuesday.
In a 2003 press release, the Cradle of Liberty Council pledged to abide by the Boy Scouts of America’s no-gays membership policy, rather than risk losing its charter.
“That press release is a sign on the door that says ‘No Gays Allowed,’” city lawyer David Smith argued. “The sign on the door scares away … the gay kids, the gay leaders, the gay employees, before they even apply.”
The local council is suing Philadelphia in federal court to try to keep the free lease it gets from the city for its Beaux Arts headquarters. The city says the scouts can no longer stay for free because their policies violate a local anti-discrimination ordinance. Jurors heard closing arguments from both sides and began deliberating Tuesday.
The council has tried to walk a fine line in the years since the 2000 Supreme Court ruling. In 2003, it enacted its own nondiscrimination policy but was forced to retrench when the Boy Scouts of America ordered it to conform with national rules. The chapter later enacted a nondiscrimination statement that says it doesn’t tolerate illegal discrimination.
The council says its free lease benefits both the scouts and the city, with the scouts providing services to needy city youth and spending $60,000 to $70,000 a year on building maintenance.
“This is a city with its priorities totally out of whack,” argued council lawyer William McSwain, who suggested that crime and poverty were far more pressing city issues.
He also mentioned the thousands of city children growing up without fathers.
“For many of those boys, the Boy Scouts are a lifeline,” McSwain said. “And this city wants to give the Boy Scouts the back of its hand?”
Former Boy Scout Greg Lattera was one of those boys. A gay teen growing up in what he described as a rough, predominantly Italian-Catholic neighborhood in South Philadelphia, he called scouting “probably the only thing I had going for me.”
But at 18, holding the rank just below Eagle Scout, he was forced out after declaring himself gay – and praising the council’s short-lived anti-discrimination policy – in a brief TV news interview. Smith argued Tuesday that Lattera was “kicked out for admitting he was gay.” The Boy Scouts’ attorneys suggested he was punished for pursuing a personal agenda while in uniform.
The Boy Scout council asked jurors to consider that the city allows a Roman Catholic parish and a Colonial Dames of America group to stay in city properties. Those groups, the city said, have agreed to open their properties to all.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press.
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