[Winona Online Democracy]
Thank you all for the wonderful dialogue today. With Peter Walsh's
permission, I am including the text of his comments made yesterday at our
press conference. Hopefully, that will help with some questions.
Additionally, several people have mentioned agencies they do not believe
should receive funding. For the record, all of our agencies (excluding the 2
Boy Scout councils) have signed the agreement and have, in fact, been
supportive of the agreement. The agencies themselves were instrumental in
the development of the agreement and other policies at our organization.
Again, thanks for all the support and respectful discussion. Our
organization thanks you, as do I.
Beth Forkner Moe
Executive Director, United Way of the Greater Winona Area.
***********************************
United Way of the Greater Winona Area
Peter K. Walsh, President
Comments 3/22/01
As a preface to my remarks, I wish to express my great respect for the Boy
Scouts of America, as an organization and as a provider of services to the
youth of our community.
Scouting is and has been a major factor in the development of many boys in
our community. Many community families are involved in Scouting and find it
a worthy organization.
Let me recap the current situation:
The United Way of the Greater Winona Area has an Agency Agreement that
includes a non-discrimination clause. That
clause reads: "(Agencies) will not discriminate as to race, creed, religion,
color, gender, national origin, age, disability,
marital status, sexual orientation or status with regard to public
assistance in any practices including, but not limited to,
practices relating to providing services, recruitment, employment, training,
promotion and termination of personnel and
volunteers, and will comply with all applicable laws governing equal
employment opportunity and affirmative
action."
The United Way will not fund member agencies that will not sign the Agency
Agreement.
The Gamehaven Council and the Gateway Council have not signed the Agency
Agreement and have indicated that they will not be able to sign it.
Therefore, the Boy Scouts will not be eligible for an allocation of
non-designated funds this year.
The Boy Scouts will receive all funds specifically designated to the Boy
Scouts by contributors during the past campaign.
The United Way of the Greater Winona Area has a responsibility to represent
our total community. We seek to promote inclusiveness. We believe that the
dignity and worth of every individual should be
cherished, protected and preserved.
We, the Board of Directors of the United Way of the Greater Winona Area, are
confident the Greater Winona community expects us to uphold the rights of
all of our citizens, to ensure that our member agencies do not discriminate
against any of the protected classes. It should not matter if this
discrimination issue is triggered by nationality, race, religion, gender or
sexual orientation; our position should be the same. We should challenge
our member agencies to be inclusive and to attest to their intent not to
discriminate. The Boy Scouts have not been willing to give us these
assurances.
We have had conversations with representatives of the Boy Scouts and they
have not been at all apologetic of their position. They express a very
clear position on sexual orientation, a position that we, as the United Way
of the Greater Winona Area must take issue with. To the best of our
knowledge it is this position that prevents the Boy Scouts from signing our
Agency Agreement.
The Boy Scouts have asked us, the United Way of the Greater Winona Area, to
compromise our position and to allow the Boy Scouts to receive funds this
year. We have discussed this issue and consider it imperative that we have
the courage to support the fairness of our non-discrimination position.
We stand behind our Agency Agreement and trust that our community will be
proud of our position. Our country is founded on the rights of life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our local community must uphold these
rights. We must seek to build a community in which our children can safely
grow, mature, and discover who they are. And, as they mature into adulthood
that they can find our community to be a welcoming place to live a
satisfying and productive life.
The history of service and leadership of the Boy Scouts of America within
our community makes it all the more important for the United Way of the
Greater Winona Area Board of Directors to uphold our non- discrimination
policy and we hope the Boy Scouts of America will re-examine their position.
-30-
----- Original Message -----
From: bob sebo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2001 6:49 PM
Subject: [Winona] united way and boy scouts
> [Winona Online Democracy]
>
> Greetings all...as you may or may not know, the United Way of the
> greater Winona area today announced that the boy scouts will no longer
> receive general fund dollars from the annual drive.
>
> This is because of their inability to sign an agreement with the
> United Way that probibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.
>
> This was a tough decision that took over six months...and involved
> lengthy conversations with the scouts.
>
> The scouts are a terrific group...but they should play by the same rules
> as everybody else, right?
>
> Did we do the right thing?
>
> Bob Sebo
> Vice-President
> United Way of the Greater Winona Area
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