March 12, 1998 | Read Time: 1 minute
A New Jersey appeals court ruled last week that the Boy Scouts cannot exclude gay members or leaders from its ranks.
The Scouts say they will appeal. Earlier, a lower court ruled that the charity was within its rights when it ousted Eagle Scout James Dale because he was gay.
The New Jersey court ruled that the Boy Scouts could not exclude homosexuals because the organization is essentially a “public accommodation,” like Little League Baseball or a restaurant, and therefore had violated the state’s antidiscrimination law.
Since its 1910 founding, the Boy Scouts has excluded homosexuals.
A flurry of lawsuits has been filed to protest that policy.
The City of Chicago last month settled a lawsuit by deciding that it would no longer support or collaborate with the Boy Scouts because the group violated a Chicago ordinance prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals. (The Chronicle, February 26).
The California Supreme Court is hearing a case about an ousted homosexual Boy Scout. The District of Columbia’s Commission on Human Rights is looking into whether the Boy Scouts’ ban on gay members violates the city’s Human Rights Act.
Additional lawsuits have been filed that complain that the Scouts discriminate against atheists because Boy Scouts must declare a faith in God. Another lawsuit, filed in California, seeks to force the group to open its ranks to girls.
A spokesman at Boy Scouts of America’s national headquarters, in Irving, Tex., said that the legal battles were not causing the group to budge an inch on its membership policies.
“The Boy Scouts of America has a right as a voluntary association to teach youth the traditional values that it’s taught since 1910,” said Gregg Shields. “We have a right to establish membership and leadership standards, and we intend to maintain that right.”
