Fitzpatrick steps in for Boy Scouts

[fgoodwin]

Fitzpatrick steps in for Boy Scouts

 

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-07312006-691181.html

http://tinyurl.com/pvk5s

 

By BRIAN SCHEID

Bucks County Courier Times

 

Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick, R-8, wants the city of Philadelphia to end its dispute with the Boy Scouts of America.

 

Fitzpatrick has sent a letter to Philadelphia Mayor John Street, blasting the city's pending decision to oust the Boy Scouts from their Philadelphia headquarters for refusing to change their policy prohibiting gay members.

 

Fitzpatrick, an Eagle Scout and former president of the Bucks County Council of the Boy Scouts of America, also gave a brief speech on the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday in support of the Scouts in the dispute.

 

Earlier this month, Street called on the Scouts' Cradle of Liberty Council, which serves more than 87,000 members in Philadelphia, Montgomery and Delaware counties, to denounce the national policy excluding gays, pay fair market value rent for its Philadelphia building or vacate the property.

 

The building, located near the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, has headquartered the Scouts since 1928, when the City Council vote to let the organization use the property rent-free in perpetuity.

 

In the letter to Street, Fitzpatrick said the city's intention to now reverse its longstanding arrangement [with the Scouts] seems at best unwarranted.

 

Joe Grace, a spokesman for Street, said the city was pleased that Scout officials plan to meet with city solicitor Romulo Diaz Jr. in the near future to hopefully adopt a policy not to discriminate.

 

The city stands by its position, Grace said Friday. The process is moving, we hope, in the right direction.

 

In a phone interview, Fitzpatrick said with gun violence and gang activity on the rise, the Boy Scouts' presence in Philadelphia was more needed than ever.

 

This is a moment in time, in history, more than any other, when the city of Philadelphia needs the Boy Scouts, Fitzpatrick said.

 

William Dwyer III, the Cradle of Liberty Council's CEO and president, said Friday he was unaware of Fitzpatrick's letter to Street, but said he was looking forward to reading it.

 

[Fitzpatrick] knows the value of the program ... so, good for him, Dwyer said. I appreciate his efforts.

 

The Boy Scouts' national organization has a policy prohibiting gays from joining scouts or being leaders, a rule that was upheld in 2000 by the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

Fitzpatrick, who became an Eagle Scout in 1979 when he was 15, has attended hundreds of Eagle Scout ceremonies as a congressman and county commissioner and is heavily involved with the organization.

 

Fitzpatrick represents the residents of Bucks County, some districts of Abington, Upper Dublin and Upper Moreland in Montgomery County and two wards in Philadelphia.

 

Brian Scheid can be reached at215-949-4165 or bscheid@phillyBurbs.com.

 

July 31, 2006 4:34 AM

[MarkS]

I wonder what, "Scout officials plan to meet with city solicitor Romulo Diaz Jr. in the near future to 'hopefully' adopt a policy 'not to discriminate.'" means? I don't think a council can go against national policy.

[DanKroh]

"I don't think a council can go against national policy."

 

They tried to in 2003. I found some of the details of the story I was trying to remember.

 

"Just weeks after Philadelphia's Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America had adopted a policy in May of not discriminating against gays, the council kicked a Scout leader [Greg Lattera] out for publicly declaring that he is gay. Facing threats from the national BSA office to revoke its charter, the council, file nation's third largest, issued a new mission statement just days after the scout's expulsion, saying the anyone who acknowledges being gay may not participate in the Scouts."

[Hunt]

Reading between the lines, it seems to me that the city and the council reached a "wink, wink" deal in 2005 in which the council would state that it doesn't practice "unlawful" discrimination. Perhaps they took into consideration the fact that the council had been there since 1928, and the nondiscrimination policy was enacted only in 2003.

For some reason which is not clear, the mayor decided to throw out that deal, and so we get the silly situation of the city solicitor "asking" the council if it discriminates against gays, when obviously he knows the answer. I do think it will be instructive to see whether the city makes similar moves against other organizations with similar leases--I think there are churches on the list, for example.

[Fuzzy Bear]

I am trying to put this into perspective with past columns. I am sure someone will clarify it. I think this is how it goes:

 

A religion/Church's stand against homosexuality is not considered discriminatory because it is part of their ethical code.

 

But if a business has a rule against Gays and says that the rule is based on an ethical code, it still is considered discrimination simply because it appears that the rule was made to bar certain groups. Scouting has maintained that it is a business so their rule is considered discriminatory.

 

Now if Scouting accepted the ruling of one judge, I can't think of the case, that Scouting is in fact a religion, then the same rule would no longer be considered objectionable and therefore discrimination would no longer have a bases.

 

At least, that is the way it might be reasoned.

 

FB

 

Webnote: fgoodwin, what happened to the rest of the Scout Law?

 

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

Hunt writes:

I do think it will be instructive to see whether the city makes similar moves against other organizations with similar leases--I think there are churches on the list, for example.

 

I very much doubt that Philadelphia leases government buildings to churches for $1/year to be used for religious purposes, as that amounts to a public subsidy for that religion. All religious organizations that get subsidized leases would also have to follow Philadelphia's nondiscrimination requirements.

 

Fuzzy Bear writes:

Now if Scouting accepted the ruling of one judge, I can't think of the case, that Scouting is in fact a religion,

 

This never happened, but a number of websites that aren't too particular about getting the details of court decisions right reported it that way. Judge Jones ruled in the Balboa Park case that the Boy Scouts are a religious organization - in part, because the Boy Scouts said they were a religious organization.(This message has been edited by Merlyn_LeRoy)

[evmori]

The BSA is a private youth group for boys. It isn't a religion nor does it resemble one.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

For those who need to be told more than once, the judge in the Balboa Park case ruled that the Boy Scouts were a "religious organization", not a "religion", and the BSA also describes itself as a "religious organization".

[evmori]

Whoopee for the judge!

 

The BSA is a private youth group for boys. It isn't a religious group nor does it resemble one.

 

Ed Mori

Troop 1

1 Peter 4:10