The ACLU wins one against the Boy Scouts

Indianapolis Star ^ | 11/16/2004 | MIKE ROBINSON AP

[Captal de Buch]

The Democrats win one for a change.

Seething about their openly gay constituents being denied access to the Boy Scouts the legal arm of the left wing, the ACLU, has continued to dog the youth organization.

In an effort to force the Scouts to put homosexual predators into leadership positions the ACLU has sued Department of Defense, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Chicago Board of Education.

It looks like they aren't going to stop until they can get their hands on those kinds.

From the Indy Star.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/D/DEFENSE_BOY_SCOUTS?SITE=ININS&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Pentagon to cut off Boy Scouts from bases

By MIKE ROBINSON Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO (AP) -- The Pentagon has agreed to warn military bases worldwide not to directly sponsor Boy Scout troops, partially resolving claims that the government has engaged in religious discrimination by supporting a group that requires members to believe in God.

The settlement announced Monday is part of a series of legal challenges in recent years over how closely the government should be aligned with the Boy Scouts of America, a venerable organization that boasts a membership of more than 3.2 million members.

[b] Civil liberties advocates have set their sights on the organization's policies because the group bans openly gay scout leaders [/b] and compels members to swear an oath of duty to God. The ACLU believes that direct government sponsorship of such a program amounts to discrimination.

The Pentagon said it has long had a rule against sponsorship of non-federal organizations and denied the rule had been violated. But it agreed to send a message to posts worldwide warning them not to sponsor Boy Scout troops or other such groups.

The rule does not prevent service members from leading Scout troops unofficially on their own time, and Scouts will still be able to hold meetings on areas of military bases where civilian organizations are allowed to hold events.

The settlement does not resolve other ACLU claims involving government spending that benefits the Boy Scouts, such as money used to prepare a Virginia military base for the Boy Scout Jamboree and grants used by state and local governments to benefit the Boy Scouts, Schwartz said.

He said the Pentagon spends $2 million every year to prepare the Virginia base for the jamboree, held once every four years. He said the Defense Department also makes annual allocations of $100,000 to support Boy Scout units on military bases overseas and $100,000 to improve Boy Scout properties, such as summer camps.

Attorney Marcia Berman, who represented the Defense Department, declined to comment on the settlement Monday. But Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller said the message that will be sent to bases represents "a clarification of an existing rule that DOD personnel cannot be involved in an official capacity." The original ACLU lawsuit named as defendants the Department of Defense, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Chicago Board of Education. The schools settled, agreeing not to engage in official sponsorship of scouting activities.

[kenroar]

We need to find out the names of the corporte sponsors who pulled support of the Boy Scouts and post their names so we can boycot their products.

[reagandemo]

I have reservations on boycotting them. It might preclude them from ever coming back. In a sense burning bridges. They know who they are and let's face it corporations do things strictly for the bottom line, P.R. value. I hope they see the error of their ways on their own.

[Miss Independent]

I think that your statements alone speak for your level of intelligence, which is obviously at the bottom. You can't even discuss an issue without resorting to your fanatical religious beliefs that all homosexuals are child molesters. There are plenty of Non-Gay Men who molest Girls and even their own daughters.There is no reason why all children shouldn't be allowed to participate in Boy Scouts. Just because a child is Gay doesn't mean that he's all of a sudden going to go off and engage in sexual intercourse with another boy any more than if the Boy Scouts allowed Girls in. What you are suggesting is that Homosexuals have no morals whatsoever, which in my opinion makes you a biggot.

24, Female, Europe, Straight, Biracial, Jewish Faith