The Minneapolis Public Schools have complied with a federal mandate in the No Child Left Behind Act which requires distribution of Boy Scout materials despite the Boy Scouts being in violation of the nondiscrimination policy of the school district which every other organization which can send materials home with students must meet.
The threat of loss of federal funding would be a high bar to jump. The federal policy appears to clearly deny the school district's capacity to provide equal protection by undermining the "religion" and "sexual orientation" clauses of the school districts' nondiscrimination policy. The boy scouts do not only discriminate against adult gay, lesbian, and bisexual volunteers but also actively discriminate against youth involved in the boy scouts who are gay, bisexual or questioning their sexual orientation not to mention discrimination against young people from glbtiq headed families. When I worked with sexual minority youth in Michigan, there was a young man who was an eagle scout who was interrogated by local scout leadership about his sexual orientation for about three hours after which they scout leadership outed him to his parents and stripped him of his eagle scout status simply because he admitted that he was gay. I'm curious if there are local students, parents, taxpayers, or others who would be interested in filing suit or supporting a suit to overturn this federal mandate which doesn't allow our community to take a stand against such invidious discrimination. I am also curious as to whether their is legal counsel in our community who would be willing to take on such a suit pro bono. On a related note, it is disappointing that our local United Way is one of the few large United Ways in the country to sell out the principals of it's own nondiscirmination clause by continuing to fund the boy scouts. The United Way in the conservative community I used to work in in Michigan bravely stood opposed to such discrimination and ceased funding the boy scouts years ago. We need to hold our community institutions such as the United Way to their pronounced principals of nondiscrimination and be willing to challenge our federal governments bolstering of discriminatory policies in the boy scouts and military. Kudos to William Mitchell Law School in St. Paul for being one of the few in the country to continue to bar military recruiters on the basis of the military being in violation of William Mitchell Law Schools nondiscimination policy. It says alot that they not only remain party to the case challenging the law requiring them to allow military recruiters in violation of their nondiscrimination policy but are willing to forego some federal moneys and contracts to support their principals when many others(such as Harvard) have caved while the issue continues to wind it's way through the courts. David Strand Loring Park ------------------------------------------------- http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=3375 Boy Scouts allowed to distribute info at Minneapolis schools Federal mandate causes district to reverse gay-supportive policy MINNEAPOLIS (AP) | Nov 6, 11:36 AM Complying with a federal mandate in the No Child Left Behind Act, the Minneapolis school district once again is allowing Boy Scout recruiting materials to be sent home with students. The mandate obliges schools to give Boy Scouts the same access to schools as other community groups or lose federal aid. It overturns the Minneapolis school district's ban prohibiting scouts from distributing recruitment materials in schools. The ban, enacted in 2000, was brought about by opposition to the Boy Scout's decision to prohibit openly gay men from being scout leaders. This fall, Minneapolis scouting leaders reported a jump in new scout registrations. The Metro Lakes District, which includes Minneapolis, Richfield and St. Anthony, reported a 108 percent increase. Access to boys through schools has helped. "It's very important. It's very hard to reach boys otherwise. They don't get all together in one place," said Renee Gutierrez-Wells, who led the district's recruitment campaign. But in David Perry's classroom at Folwell Middle School, scouting material hasn't made a reappearance. When Perry, a teacher active in a national organization that is working to open scouting for gays and atheists, found a stack of recruiting fliers in his mailbox, he quietly decided not to distribute them. Perry offers a simple excuse: "We were not told we had to pass them out." Lauri Appelbaum, coordinator of the district's program for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students and adults, said she learned of the change from inquiring principals. "I think it's really unfortunate that the federal government felt a need to take away local control from school boards," Appelbaum said. In 2002, Boy Scouts of America adopted a resolution declaring "that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the values espoused in the scout oath and law" and those "values cannot be subject to local option." The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the group's right as a private organization to bar openly gay men from becoming scout leaders. __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 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