Posted on 12/07/2001 9:27:51 AM PST by Buffalo Bob
(AgapePress) - A conservative spokesman in California says a recent vote by the San Diego City Council shows that many people may be fed up with the assaults the Boy Scouts have endured recently.
More than 25,000 Boy Scouts in the San Diego area will still be able to use a camp that the organization was in danger of being excluded from because of the Scouts' ban on homosexuals for membership and leadership positions. By a vote of 6-3, the San Diego City Council earlier this week approved an agreement which will let the Scouts lease facilities at Balboa Park for 25 years, with an option for 15 more years. The agreement caps a two-year battle which saw many homosexual rights activists calling for the Scouts' lease not to be renewed.
Roger Hedgecock is a popular conservative radio talk show host in the San Diego area. He says many are tired of the relentless assaults the Scouts have endured from liberals. "I believe the time is coming when we'll roll back all of these crazy decisions that have been made against the Boy Scouts and we'll reaffirm the value of this program," Hedgecock says.
According to Hedgecock, the vote means that there is strength in numbers. "These activist groups can be defeated, but you need to mobilize the 'great silent majority' that agrees with us," he says.
Under the lease, the Scouts must spend $1.7 million over the next seven years to upgrade "Camp Balboa." During the council meeting when the lease was renewed, Scout leaders said a number of groups -- including lesbian and homosexual groups -- had been invited to use the Balboa Park grounds when the Scouts were not using them.
When six members of the San Diego City Council voted to approve a lease extension for the Boy Scout's facility at Balboa Park on Tuesday, the city attorney assured them they weren't violating the letter of the law.
The spirit of the law is another matter.
"It's a policy call. It's not a legal call," said Frank Devaney, head deputy city attorney. "There's nothing unlawful about the lease. But you've got to search. ... Look into your souls and hearts and decide what you think is right."
After eight hours of testimony and discussion, the majority of the nine-member council decided that it was right to grant the Desert Pacific Council of the Boy Scouts of America a lengthy extension on its $1-per-year lease for Camp Balboa, 15.6 acres of property in Balboa Park.
On balance, they felt the children would end up the losers in an "adult debate" if they bowed to opponents of the extension.
The American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) and groups the represent homosexuals have insisted that the city -- a public agency that represents everyone who lives within its bounds -- should not subsidize the Boy Scouts, an organization which stands by a national policy of excluding homosexuals and people who do not profess a belief in God.
Mayor Dick Murphy summed up the majority opinion in a simple statement.
"I do not agree with the national Boy Scout policy regarding gays. However, I do support extending the Boy Scouts' lease in Balboa Park," he said. "I'm unwilling to punish 25,000 San Diego Boy Scouts by prohibiting them from using Balboa Park in order to send a protest to (Scout headquarters in) Texas. I will not do that."
Opponents -- including many former Scouts -- said it was not a protest vote, but a time to stand up for what is right. By granting the "sweetheart deal," the council endorsed and became a partner in discrimination, they said.
In casting one of the dissenting votes, Councilwoman Donna Frye went farther than saying the lease was wrong. She insisted that it was a violation of the city's Human Dignity Ordinance, a 1990 law protecting homosexuals from discrimination.
"To me, that means discrimination is unlawful and should not be subsidized," Frye said at Tuesday night's meeting. "Now, if we do not agree with the law, we have the ability to change it. But not to ignore it."
But on Wednesday morning, Devaney explained that the Human Dignity Ordinance offers homosexuals who have been victims of discrimination in the private sector recourse in the courts -- a way to sue a private person or entity that discriminates against them based on sexual orientation. That is something that federal law, which prevents government agencies from discriminating against homosexuals, does not do, he said.
But, on its face, the Human Dignity Ordinance has absolutely nothing to say about whether the city allows a nonprofit organization that discriminates to do business on city property. And, Devaney said, it would be a form of censorship for the city to check into the policies of every organization that rents property from the city and make sure the council agrees with those policies.
"Yesterday's move by the city council -- does that come within the purview of the ordinance? In our opinion, the answer is no," Devaney said. "I think it might be a violation of the intent of the ordinance -- the policy statement. But that's a political call."
Eventually, the courts will rule on whether or not it is appropriate for the city to subsidize the Scouts, he said. In August 2000, the local chapter of the ACLU filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging the Boy Scout lease. When the case goes to trial sometime in 2003, attorneys will litigate the issue of whether subsidizing organizations that discriminate based on sexual orientation and religious beliefs is barred by the United States Constitution, Devaney said.
The Scouts have occupied the site in Balboa Park since 1916, moving only for a few years to make way for the military during World War II. In 1957, the city formally granted the organization a 50-year lease at $1 per year. That lease was set to expire in 2007, but the Scouts requested an early renewal so they could embark on a fundraising campaign to upgrade the facility.
Camp Balboa is a rare commodity -- an urban campground that has the feel of a wilderness area.
The City Council was set to grant a 50-year lease extension, but at the urging on Councilman Scott Peters it was pared down to 25 years, plus a 15-year option for the Scouts. As part of the lease, the group must draw up a master plan for the site within two years and complete $1.7 million in improvements within seven years.
Peters, clearly tortured by his decision to vote in favor of the lease, said if he had been casting a swing vote he would have called for a delay in order to talk further with the local Scouts about protesting the national policy. As it was, the mayor -- at Peters' request -- ordered the city attorney to draft a resolution for future council consideration that would condemn the Boy Scouts' discriminatory policies.
"If I had voted the other way, would there have been a message?" Peters asked Thursday. "The message to Dallas would be that we approved a 50-year lease."
In addition to Frye, Councilman Ralph Inzunza and Councilwoman Toni Atkins -- who is openly lesbian, and led the fight against the lease -- voted to deny the extension.
Atkins compared the dispute to the civil rights movement on the 1960s. She pointed out that at that time the Scouts had a policy of "separate but equal." African American children and white children were assigned to separate groups, she said.
"It's days like today that remind me that, although I'm allowed to sit at the table, tonight, 'liberty and justice for all' doesn't include me." Atkins said Tuesday. "It takes pushing the envelope to make change in America. And I will not apologize for standing up for a community that has been so significant in San Diego."
Don't try to understand them,
just 'round them up and brand 'em!
Didn't you learn in your short stay as Freedom Bear that not all Conservatives hate all gays? And just because we don't hate gays like you do, it doesn't mean we support their lifestyle. You made it all of a week as Freedom Bear, I doubt you'll do better as Jester99.
One of the opponents said the scouts were getting a "sweetheart deal." But, note who gets to pay the bills.
Incidentally, the BSA in San Diego has paid for the infrastructure and maintenance of this site over the 85 years of its existence. It has been open for use by other groups whenever the scouts weren't using it and, as the article mentions, this included homo groups.
America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
Download 8 Mb zip file here (50 minute video)
It wasn't that way when I went to Boy Scout camp in 1952. Homosexualists are like Islamists -- they lie all the time.
America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
Download 8 Mb zip file here (50 minute video)
Don't let your guard down just yet. The hysterical homos aren't over the fact that they don't have a right to sleep in tents with 12 year old boys.
Not sure exactly what you're talking about. My oldest grandchild attends a private Christian school and my other two grandchildren will be, when they are old enough, homeschooled, their mom tells me. My three grown children are conservative. I don't approve of the homosexual life style or approve of homosexuals that try to force their beliefs on others. I think child molestors should get the death penalty. But do I care what consenting adults do in their own bedrooms? No. And I personally believe that those that are obsessed with homosexuals are just as sick as those that they are obsessed with. Does this clear things up for you?
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