Chicago Drops Tiesto Boy Scout Program

As part of a settlement reached earlier this month in federal court, the City of Chicago will not help Boy Scouts of America programs — unless the charity changes its long-standing policies of excluding homosexuals from participating and of requiring participants to recite a religious oath.

The settlement ends a lawsuit filed a year ago against the city by the Illinois chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The A.C.L.U. contended that the city’s participation in 28 Boy Scout programs violated the First Amendment’s separation of church and state, as well as a city ordinance prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

The city also agreed to pay $20,000 in court costs.

Chicago has been involved with Boy Scout programs for more than 30 years. The programs often involved pairing Scouts with city employees, such as police officers and firefighters, so that the youths could learn about career possibilities in those fields. About 1,000 boys were participating in the programs when the lawsuit was filed, according to the Boy Scouts.

The Scout program prohibited city employees who were homosexuals from participating and required employees who did participate to recite a religious oath recognizing God as the “ruling and leading power in the universe.”

Rebecca Fields, a program director for the Boy Scouts in Chicago who oversaw the program with the city, said the Boy Scouts of America had no plans to change its policies. She said that the charity had found businesses and private citizens to take the place of city employees in the programs.