Most companies supporting Scouts
Misleading media reports reflected
homosexual-activist press releases
By David M. Bresnahan
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com
Although recent media reports, spearheaded by a story in the New
York Times, have uncritically trumpeted as fact claims of
homosexual activists that major corporations are withdrawing
donations from the Boy Scouts of America, WorldNetDaily has found
the claims to be largely untrue.
In fact, membership and funding for the Boy Scouts of America are
now at record levels.
"All across the country, Scouting is prospering and growing,"
said Robert M. Gates, president of the National Eagle Scout
Association in a recent letter to members. "Virtually every
council has had healthy growth in both youth members and adult
volunteers."
"Every council is enjoying improved financial support, to the
extent that many are making capital improvements in their camps
and council service centers for the first time in years. Many
councils are now able to begin building endowments or add to
existing ones that will enhance programs for years to come,"
explained Gates.
Enrollment in scouting is higher than at any time since the
1970s, according to BSA national spokesman Greg Shields. Over
47,000 boys earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1999, a new record.
Many newspapers and television network news programs have
repeated claims made in a New York Times article by reporter Kate
Zernike that the BSA has suffered a significant financial loss --
but none of those news organizations verified the claims.
For the past three years, homosexual activists, represented by
the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, have been locked in a battle with
the Boy Scouts over their policy of not accepting homosexuals as
adult leaders. That dispute was settled on June 28 when the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that the BSA is a private organization with
the right to exclude anyone from membership.
San Francisco may have a population with a higher than average
percentage of homosexuals and those who are sympathetic to
homosexuals. Yet despite major publicity over the homosexual
issue, membership has increased by about 14 percent a year in the
San Francisco Bay Area Council of the BSA.
Shields told WorldNetDaily in a phone interview that there are
now about 1.2 million adult leaders and about 5 million members
of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Explorers -- a record high.
Shields also pointed out that the BSA has not suffered financial
loss.
Numerous homosexual activist groups have posted information on
websites repeating information about major corporations that they
claim have stopped donating to the BSA. WorldNetDaily found that
most of those claims are false. The claims made by homosexual
groups, such as Lambda Legal, appeared in the New York Times and
were then repeated in many papers and news programs. (Editor's
note: WorldNetDaily carried the link to the inaccurate New York
Times story, and apologizes for having inadvertently spread the
misinformation.)
Lambda Legal and various homosexual organizations claim a number
of large corporations once gave to the Boy Scouts of America, but
no longer do so because they disagree with the BSA policy on
homosexuality. Investigations by WorldNetDaily and others have
found that claim to be an exaggeration.
The list of donors said to be in opposition to the Boy Scouts
includes:
Levi Strauss & Company
Bank of America
Wells Fargo
First Interstate
Chase Manhattan
Textron, Inc.
AMICA
First Union
Shields told WorldNetDaily that the list is not accurate and said
he is challenging members of the press to investigate for
themselves by contacting each company directly.
Although Bank of America briefly banned the Boy Scouts from their
list of acceptable worthy causes in 1992, they changed that
policy shortly after it was announced. A company spokesman did
not wish to be quoted, but confirmed that Bank of America does
not have a ban on donations.
Wells Fargo did ban donations to the Scouts in 1992, but changed
that policy in 1998, according to a company spokesman. Norwest
Corp. merged with Wells Fargo and allowed all local bank
presidents to determine how they want to handle donations.
First Interstate Bank never banned donations to the Boy Scouts,
according to a spokesman. News accounts from 1992 indicate only
that a ban was considered at that time, but there were no reports
of an actual ban.
Chase Manhattan Bank issued a statement last week to announce
plans to continue financial support for the BSA. The bank
provides $200,000 a year to the Boy Scouts. Withdrawal of support
would be "harmful to thousands of children," according to the
statement. The New York Times had reflected the press releases of
homosexual activist groups in claiming the bank does not plan to
donate to the scouts.
Levi Strauss & Company is the only company on the list that has
been reported on accurately. However, Shields said there has been
no impact on the programs of the Boy Scouts because of the loss
of donations from Levi Strauss & Company, which stopped donating
to BSA in 1992 as a protest over the homosexual issue.
Textron, Inc. never donated to the Boy Scouts until 1999 when it
gave $3,000 to a local group in Rhode Island, according to
spokeswoman Susan Bishop. Textron decided not to give to the Boy
Scouts directly, but permits subsidiary companies to do so.
Textron owns Bell Helicopters, Cessna Citation jets, E-Z-GO golf
carts, Kautex fuel tanks, Camcar fasteners, Textron Financial,
Textron Automotive, Textron Fastening Systems, Textron Golf and
Turf, OmniQuip Textron, Greenlee Textron, Textron Fluid and
Power, and Textron Industrial Components. The parent company does
not place any restrictions on any of the subsidiary companies and
permits donations to the BSA, according to Bishop.
Homosexual activist groups have claimed, and a number of news
organizations have reported, that Textron, Inc. has given
hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Boy Scouts.
"Companies like Chase Manhattan Bank and Textron Inc., have
withdrawn hundreds of thousands of dollars in support to local
and national scouting groups nationwide," reported Kate Zernike
in her Aug. 29 New York Times article.
Bishop pointed out that Textron never did have a policy regarding
the Boy Scouts prior to April 2000, and never gave money to the
Boy Scouts beyond the $3,000 donated in 1999 to a local group.
She emphasized that donations are left up to the subsidiary
companies owned by Textron.
"Last year we gave $3,000 to a local (BSA) fundraising dinner,
and we declined to do that this year," said Bishop.
Zernike also reported that "dozens of United Ways from
Massachusetts to San Francisco have cut off money amounting to
millions of dollars each year." Since then, the Times has run a
correction and said the actual number of United Ways that have
defunded the Boy Scouts is more like a "dozen" rather than
"dozens."
United Way of America does not tell its 1,400 local chapters how
to handle the BSA issue. Less than 12 local United Way chapters
have discontinued donations to the Boy Scouts, according to a
United Way national spokesman. Other chapters are in the process
of considering a ban.
Shields said the loss of a few United Way chapters is
disappointing, but it will not change the stand taken by the BSA
on the homosexual issue.
"We have never accepted homosexual leaders and we will never
accept homosexual leaders," he stated.
The Traditional Values Coalition, a family-values activist
organization representing 43,000 churches in America, has also
investigated the claims made by the New York Times and activist
groups. Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, chairman, said he has found that
most corporations have not banned donations to the Boy Scouts at
all.
"When we've called these groups," said Sheldon, "we find out that
in fact they have not decided to defund the scouts at all."
He said he also learned that AMICA, an insurance holding company,
has been reported by some groups to be opposed to the BSA policy
on homosexuals. His investigation discovered that the company
never decided to stop donations to the BSA and will continue to
do so.
Sheldon also confirmed that Bank of America reversed its decision
to withhold donations.
"Bank of America went through over $100 million of withdrawals
when they said they were going to defund the Boy Scouts," he
explained. "They changed their position years ago."
First Union bank considered a ban on donations to the Boy Scouts,
but decided instead to continue, according to an official
statement.
"It is First Union's intention to evaluate each of its corporate
contributions to ensure that they achieve an appropriate balance
between inclusiveness and community service, and that they are
consistent with First Union's core values. Over the past several
weeks, First Union has engaged in thoughtful and engaging
discussions with regard to the issues surrounding its support of
the Boy Scouts of America. As a result of these discussions,
First Union will continue to support the Boy Scouts of America.
First Union believes that the Boy Scouts offer programs to
America's youth that are meaningful and positive," said the
company statement First Union e-mailed to WorldNetDaily.
Sheldon said the homosexual activists would not stop their effort
to hurt the Boy Scouts financially, and said he plans to continue
to ask the members of the 43,000 churches he represents to fight
back.
"We're calling upon every American to put pressure on Corporate
America to continue --and to increase -- funding for the Boy
Scouts. We are also calling upon corporate heads to reject the
strident demands of homosexual activists to destroy whatever
groups they cannot control," said Sheldon. "Corporate America
should stand alongside the Boy Scouts for morality, decency, and
honesty."
"Corporate America must make a choice," said Sheldon.
"Businessmen must decide if they're going to support homosexual
sodomy over the Boy Scouts. If they choose sodomy over the
Scouts, the American people should rise up to boycott their
products."
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FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
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~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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