[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Court: Scouts can bar gay troop leaders
*Praise God and may the BSA prosper!
What seemed compelling was the portion of the Scout law that says:
to keep myself, Physically strong, Mentally awake and Morally straight!
Scouting "values" productive attitudes of citizenship and character building
as well as task management and leadership. The main thing in BSA is NOT
gay bashing or attitudes of exclusion.
I'm proud of Scouting for not caving in to social pressure and seeking
a decision from the highest court in the land. That a reflection of their
commitment to morality and mission. *Bravo!
Royal Rangers can learn several lessons from the Scouts in this matter,
and should develop clear child protection policies for leadership positions
that are above reproach, and understandable in every case.. the reason
is for our own good! Scouts wanted to avoid the improper "Man-Boy"
relationship for the preservation of a core value. I assume we stand with
Scouts in that as well...
But let us view this also from the desire to instill positive family values and
Godly models of right behavior before the boys...Male leaders and Female
leaders can do that! May *WE join with scouts to be Physical strong,
mentally awake and morally straight...
-=A=-
>
>
> 06/28/2000
>
> Associated Press
>
>
> WASHINGTON – The Boy Scouts can bar homosexuals from serving as troop
> leaders, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The decision puts a limit on how
> far the courts should go to force open admissions on private groups.
>
> The 5-4 decision said forcing the Scouts to accept gay troop leaders would
> violate the organization's rights of free expression and free association
> under the Constitution's First Amendment.
>
> "The Boy Scouts asserts that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the
> values it seeks to instill,'' Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for
> the court. Requiring them to accept a gay scoutmaster "would significantly
> burden the organization's right to oppose or disfavor homosexual conduct.''
>
> The ruling reversed a New Jersey Supreme Court holding that the Scouts
> wrongly ousted assistant scoutmaster James Dale when the organization learned
> he was gay. The state court had said the Scouts' action violated a New Jersey
> law banning discrimination in public accommodation.
>
> Dale, who was an Eagle Scout, had sued the Scouts under the New Jersey law.
> But the Supreme Court said Wednesday that that law must yield to the Scout
> organization's right of "expressive association'' under the First Amendment.
>
> The American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative advocacy group that
> filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting the Boy Scouts, said the ruling
> "will have a dramatic impact on all private organizations &150; including
> religious groups 7#150; to define their own mission and set their own
> criteria for leadership.''
>
> The Human Rights Campaign, a gay-rights organization, called the ruling a
> "travesty of justice that may allow large, open-membership groups to be above
> the law and evade state and local nondiscrimination laws.''
>
> Rehnquist's opinion was joined by Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin
> Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas.
>
> Dissenting were Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader
> Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer.
>
> Writing for the four, Stevens said the New Jersey law "does not impose any
> serious burdens'' on the Boy Scouts' goals, "nor does it force (the Boy
> Scouts) to communicate any message that it does not wish to endorse. New
> Jersey's law, therefore, abridges no constitutional right of the Boy Scouts.''
>
> Dale was 19 and an assistant scoutmaster of a Matawan, N.J., troop when in
> 1990 he was identified in a newspaper article as co-president of a campus
> lesbian and gay student group at Rutgers University.
>
> The Scouts' Monmouth Council revoked Dale's registration as an adult leader,
> telling him the organization does not allow openly gay members. Dale sued,
> contending the Scouts violated New Jersey's anti-discrimination law.
>
> The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in his favor, saying the expulsion was
> based "on little more than prejudice.''
>
> During oral arguments in April, the Scouts' lawyer, George Davidson, said the
> group had a right "to choose the moral leaders for the children in the
> program.''
>
> The Scouts relied on a 1995 Supreme Court decision in which the justices let
> the private sponsor of the Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade exclude a group of
> gays and lesbians, saying parades are a "form of expression.''
>
> Dale's lawyer, Evan Wolfson, said giving public accommodations the broad
> freedom to exclude people who do not match their message could swallow the
> civil rights laws.
>
> Dale's attorneys cited Supreme Court decisions during the 1980s that let
> states force the Jaycees and Rotary International admit women as full
> members. The court also let New York City bar large private clubs from
> discriminating against women and minorities.
>
> Rehnquist's opinion said "it appears that homosexuality has gained greater
> societal acceptance'' in recent times.
>
> "But this is scarcely an argument for denying First Amendment protection to
> those who refuse to accept those views,'' the chief justice wrote. "The First
> Amendment protects expression, be it of the popular variety or not.''
>
> The Supreme Court has dealt with gay rights infrequently. In 1996, the
> justices struck down a Colorado measure that barred ordinances giving gays
> legal protection from discrimination, such as in housing or employment. But
> the court also has repeatedly turned away challenges to President Clinton's
> "don't ask, don't tell'' policy on gays in the military.
>
> Dale now lives in New York City and is advertising director for a magazine
> for people who are HIV-positive.
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> Breaking national
> news from A.P.
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> [ Dallasnews.com ]
>
> ©2000 The Dallas Morning News
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