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BOY SCOUTS EXCLUDE GAYS & TOP US COURT AGREES!

 

Gay Free Boy Scouts (streaming version to share with friends and social networks)

Keeler in the Morning Interview with Ray about the song

Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

 

     When Eagle Scout James Dale got a letter throwing him out of the Boy Scouts for being gay, he went for help to Lambda Legal, a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work. It took his case and won in the NJ Supreme Court, but got defeated when the Boy Scouts of America appealed to the US Supreme Court (the same folks who ruled Bush beat Gore in the election). I only met James once when I sang the song at a fund-raising event in Greenwich Village to help with past expenses and support future actions. James was very pleasant and thanked me for writing the song and performing it.

The Boy Scouts of America council is considering allowing its member organizations to allow gays to participate. Join with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (above) to support this idea!

     These are some of the portions of the US Supreme Court opinion about how being gay relates to being morally straight and clean. The Court takes the position that it is protecting the Boy Scouts’ free speech rights by allowing them to ban gay people:

The Boy Scouts asserts that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the values embodied in the Scout Oath and Law, particularly with the values represented by the terms “morally straight” and “clean.”

Obviously, the Scout Oath and Law do not expressly mention sexuality or sexual orientation. See supra, at 6—7. And the terms “morally straight” and “clean” are by no means self-defining. Different people would attribute to those terms very different meanings. For example, some people may believe that engaging in homosexual conduct is not at odds with being “morally straight” and “clean.” And others may believe that engaging in homosexual conduct is contrary to being “morally straight” and “clean.” The Boy Scouts says it falls within the latter category....

A position statement promulgated by the Boy Scouts in 1991 (after Dale’s membership was revoked but before this litigation was filed) also supports its current view:

“We believe that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the requirement in the Scout Oath that a Scout be morally straight and in the Scout Law that a Scout be clean in word and deed, and that homosexuals do not provide a desirable role model for Scouts.” Id., at 457....

Dale was the copresident of a gay and lesbian organization at college and remains a gay rights activist. Dale’s presence in the Boy Scouts would, at the very least, force the organization to send a message, both to the youth members and the world, that the Boy Scouts accepts homosexual conduct as a legitimate form of behavior.

     Here is one of the places you can find the full text on the web:  

http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/99-699.ZO.html