Boy Scouts Lose Philadelphia Lease in Gay-Rights Fight

At least freedom of religion and the Establishment clause of the Constitution are still understood by some (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/us/06scouts.html?_r=1&oref=slogin). The the Philadelphia council of the Boy Scouts of America has rightly lost its right to have subsidized rent by the taxpayers of Philadelphia because the Scouts insist on making conformity with their religious views on gays and other issues a pre-requisite for membership. The message is simple: if you want to discriminate against certain members of the public, do NOT expect the public to underwrite your costs. Discrimination indeed has a price. No doubt Huckabee and Romney will condemn the city's position. Here are some story highlights:

For three years the Philadelphia council of the Boy Scouts of America held its ground. It resisted the city’s request to change its discriminatory policy toward gay people despite threats that if it did not do so, the city would evict the group from a municipal building where the Scouts have resided practically rent free since 1928.

But over the years the fight between the city and the Scouts was about more than this grandiose structure in Center City. Municipal officials said the clash stemmed from a duty to defend civil rights and an obligation to abide by a local law that bars taxpayer support for any group that discriminates. Boy Scout officials said it was about preserving their culture, protecting the right of private organizations to remain exclusive and defending traditions like requiring members to swear an oath of duty to God and prohibiting membership by anyone who is openly homosexual.

This week the Boy Scouts made their last stand and lost. “At the end of the day, you can not be in a city-owned facility being subsidized by the taxpayers and not have language in your lease that talks about nondiscrimination,” said City Councilman Darrell L. Clarke, who represents the district where the building is located. “Negotiations are over.”

The issue became a local concern in Philadelphia in May 2003 when the national Boy Scouts held their annual meeting in the city. During the conference, a local scout challenged the organization’s policies by announcing on television that he was gay and that he was a devoted member of the organization. He was promptly dismissed by the local chapter, which is called the Cradle of Liberty Council.

Stacey Sobel, executive director of Equality Advocates Pennsylvania, a gay-rights advocacy group based in Philadelphia, said the city required that any organization that rented property from it agree to nondiscriminatory language in its lease. The Boy Scouts skirted the requirement by never having had to sign a lease because they were given use of the building by city ordinance in the 1920s.