ACLU: Boy Scouts shouldn't be allowed to meet in public schools [Boulder, CO]

Boulder Daily Camera ^ | 08/02/2010 | Brittany Anas

[Pyro7480]

Boy Scouts shouldn't be able to meet in Boulder's public schools because they openly discriminate against gays, according to the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Johanna Blumenthal, with the Boulder County ACLU, sent a letter today to officials with the Boulder Valley School District arguing that the Boy Scouts are a discriminatory group because they have openly defended the right to exclude homosexuals from membership.

The ACLU raised the same concern in 2001, but is now buffering its argument with a recent Supreme Court ruling. The ACLU is asking the district to change its policies so that groups that use school buildings must comply with district policies.

One of those rules prohibits interfering with a student's opportunities or benefits on the basis of the individuals “race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, age, disability or religion.”

The district's current policy does not require the Boy Scouts, or other groups using school buildings, to comply with the district's policies to receive reduced rental rates. The school district though “reserves the right” to deny use of its building for any activity that violates its rules.

“We again pose the question to the BVSD Board of Education: Is it the policy of the District to subsidize a youth organization that openly discriminates based on sexual orientation?,” the letter from Blumenthal says. The ACLU is citing the Supreme Court's ruling in the CLS vs. Martinez case....

[SZonian]

I know the GS’s have embraced PC, so I would suspect that they aren’t experiencing the same attacks the Boy Scouts are.

In our area, we weren’t denied access to a local elementary school, it was just made difficult, especially during the summer break.

We have since moved to a local church, they haven’t embraced Scouting since they are under that it competes with Awana and are probably unaware of how Scouting can be a complement to their developing of youth.

We do have plans to engage them, when we can get some of their time.

[SZonian]

Correction: "... they haven't embraced Scouting since they are under the impression that it competes with Awana and are probably..."

Hit post to soon.

[SandRat]

[gitmo]

Government schools shouldn't be allowed to meet! Padlock the doors and do a minor refit on the buildings for use as prisons.

Or give the buildings to the Scouts. :-)

[wintertime]

Or give the buildings to the Scouts. :-)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Very good! Sitting here laughing! :-)

[gitmo]

My scout troop met in a couple of Quonset huts at the Naval Base in Cuba. It was a great place for a troop.

[liberalism is suicide]

Should the ACLU even be allowed to crawl from beneath its rock?

[dsutah]

When our local R.Catholic church was still being finished in 1967-68, our congregation met in the auditorium of a local high school! One of the high schools in town very graciously let them use it for mass on Sundays, (and this was during the Summer). Luckily, the church was finished quickly after that, so they didn’t have to worry!

[RonF]

Under current law, public schools that deny the BSA or other youth organizations the right to use their facilities for meeting places face loss of federal funding. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Support_Our_Scouts_Act .

[Truthsearcher]

I think technically the ACLU is right, but only because public schools are themselves unconstitutional. So whatever group that meets there is technical violation.

The real solution is to abolish public education, and let it be done by self organized communities, churches, and private institutions.