Boy Scouts
Face New Challenge From ACLU
BY DAVID SOUTHWELL
In a new challenge to the Boy Scouts of
America over the issue of bias, the American Civil
Liberties Union has asked institutions ranging from the
City of Chicago to the FBI to cut off support to Scout
troops or force them to change.
"We're saying governmental
agencies shouldn't be violating discrimination
laws," said Roger Leishman, state director of gay
and lesbian rights for the ACLU.
The ACLU wrote to companies and
governmental agencies this week, telling them they are
violating anti-bias laws because their Scouting units
deny membership to gays and atheists.
Other agencies on the list
include the Chicago Board of Education, Commonwealth
Edison, the Chicago Police and Fire departments, the
Chicago Housing Authority, the Cook County state's
attorney's office, the U.S. Customs Service, the Chicago
and Cook County bar associations, Northwestern Memorial
Hospital and LaSalle Banks.
"We're not saying what the
Boy Scouts do is legal or illegal. It's what these
sponsoring groups are doing," Leishman said.
The ACLU contends that the Boy
Scouts discriminate on the basis of religion by
requiring all prospective Scouts, leaders and employees
to acknowledge God's authority.
"They have rights of
association because they are a private
organization," Leishman said. "But if the city
operated a Ku Klux Klan operation out of a fire
department, that would be a discriminatory
program."
Instead of filing lawsuits to
fight the Scouts, the ACLU is taking this new approach.
"We want this to be an open discussion with the
public," Leishman said. "One way is for
everyone to put pressure on these organizations. Because
they're the Boy Scouts, people have looked past
discriminatory policies."
City Corporation Counsel Susan
Sher said the city has nothing to do with the Scouts.
"I think they're mistaken
about the facts," Sher said. "There are
various city agencies who have mentoring programs for
high school students, and you don't have to be a Boy
Scout or Girl Scout to be in the program.
"... We don't discriminate
on anyone due to sexual preference."
The new ACLU approach grew out
of what it learned about corporate and government
support for Scouting during the recent case of gay Eagle
Scout Keith Richardson. The Chicago Commission on Human
Relations voted that the Boy Scouts had violated
Richardson's rights by rejecting him for a job because
of his sexual orientation.
The case is before a state
Circuit Court for review.
Rebecca Fields, a spokeswoman
for the Boy Scouts, said the organization "does not
ask prospective members about their sexual preference,
nor do we check on sexual orientation of boys who
already scout. ... We have always taught youth the
traditional values of family and do not believe a person
who engages in homosexual conduct provides a role model
consistent with those values."
The new strategy is unique for
the ACLU, which usually takes cases to court. "I
can't point to another circumstance where we used this
precise approach," said ACLU staff counsel Jane
Whicher.
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