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Boy Scouts of America (BSA)
News items in the media, year 2003
Sponsored link.
Year 2003 news items:
 | 2003-MAY-30: The Boy Scouts of America held its national
meeting in Philadelphia, PA. Their policies of discriminating against
members and leaders on the basis of religious faith and sexual orientation
were not included in the agenda. On MAY-29, about ten protestors were
present outside the meeting. One was Boy Scout Gregory Lattera, 18, of
Philadelphia, PA. He said: "It's painful, that something you love,
people you care about, are ready to kick you out." An attendee at the
meeting, Boy Scout Greg Heleniak, 18, of Blue Bell, PA., believes that the
protesters have a right to speak out. But he said that "I think they
have to respect our rights as an organization [to exclude gays and
non-theists]...We've been around for 90 years. Scouting has produced many
great leaders. I don't see any reason for changing it."
The local Boy Scout council, the Cradle of Liberty Council is the
third largest in the U.S. with 87,000 members in Philadelphia and two
neighboring counties. Earlier in May, they voted unanimously to add "sexual
orientation" to its nondiscrimination policy. BSA headquarters spokesman Gregg
Shields said that no decision had been made whether the Council would face
disciplinary action. 1 |
| 2003-AUG-22: Sebastopol troop ejected: The Venture Crew 488 in
Sebastopol CA was ejected from the organization by the Redwood Council because
of their refusal to discriminate against homosexuals. Bev Buswell, a
long-time Scout leader and local real estate broker was the lead advisor
for the Venture Crew. She had issued a statement promising to not
discriminate on the basis of race, religion or sexual orientation. Local
and national Scout officials say that all troops must bar gays and
non-theists as members and leaders.
Sebastopol Councilor Linda Kelley brought a letter to a protest near the
Redwood Empire Boy Scout Council office. The letter was signed by
herself and three other council members and urged the council to reinstate
Crew 488. She said of the protestors: "We support their efforts to make
scouting as diverse as possible." 2 |
| 2003-OCT-7: OR: School board considering restricting BSA:
Steven Wagenhoffer of Portland filed a complaint against his sons' public
elementary school because it allows the BSA to distribute their
promotional flyers to students. Wagenhoffer is gay, and objects to the BSA
discriminating against both gays and non-theists. The school board's
Community and Staff Relations Committee will review non-school
group activities in its buildings. In particular, the Boy Scout issue will
be an item on the agenda. 3 |
- "Boy Scouts avoid gay-policy fight," Associated Press, 2003-MAY-30,
at:
http://www.billingsgazette.com/
- "Protest takes Scouts to task. Two dozen demonstrate after Sebastopol
troop ejected over gay rights," 2003-AUG-22, The Press Democrat, Santa
Rosa CAat:
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/
- Hans Zeiger, "Boy Scouts threatened in Portland schools,"
WorldNetDaily, 2003-OCT-7, at:
http://worldnetdaily.com/
Copyright © 2003 & 2004 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance.
Latest updated: 2004-JUL-12
Author: B.A. Robinson
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