Cradle of Liberty Boy Scout Council == Assholes

[giza]

The backstory:

City of Philadelphia: "Uh, you know that office space we're letting you have for free?"

Boy Scouts: "Yeah?"

City of Philadelphia: Well, we got this little problem with you discriminating against gays. It's discriminatory, and our policies prevent us from letting you have this office space for free.

Boy Scouts: It's our organization, and we'll run it how we like.

City of Philadelphia: Look, if you want to discriminate against gays, that's your business, but we're going to have to ask that you pay us fair market value starting on June 1st, or vacate the building. Continuing to let you occupy that building free of rent would violate our city's policies.

Boy Scouts: Fuck you.

City of Philadelphia: Fine, just get out.

Boy Scouts: We're not going anywhere. BTW, we're suing you now, so that we can stay here and continue to discriminate against gays.

So, yeah... I wish I could say that this kind of behavior is a first from the Boy Scouts, but they have a long standing policy of being horribly bigoted and intolerant when it comes to gays, atheists, and pretty much anyone else who doesn't fit into their narrow view of the way things should be.

I remember back in the 90s when I used to read Scouting Magazine, I would see these awful editorials going on and on (and on...) about the "gay agenda", and how those eeeeevil gays and atheists were trying to "take over" Scouting and force their values on everyone else. I was years away from thinking of myself as "gay" back then, but still those editorials left a really bad taste in my mouth.

The funny thing is that the local troops that I dealt with when I was in scouting (I'm an Eagle Scout) really didn't care one way or another about sexual orientation or religious preferences. When we were on camping trips and went to religious services, the guys who didn't go to church were merely dragged along to whatever service the leaders felt like taking them to. Nobody cared. A childhood friend of mine told me a few years back that his troop was the same way, but with gays. There were several gays in his troop, and the leaders didn't care.

It's such a shame, that while Boy Scouting is a great program for the boys, its executives are completely out of touch, and rotten to the core.

Comments

[unkbar.livejournal.com]

I followed the link and read the actual complaint. A couple of the claims may have merit, if they are true. One, equal protection, says that the city has similar sweetheart deals with other organizations who discriminate in some way or another, but the city is not trying to evict anybody but the BSA. Another is that over the years, the BSA built and paid for the building in question, even though it was built on city land. If they're evicted, they want compensation for the value of the building. The third alleges that the city's offer to charge rent is actually punishment because the rent they're asking is (so they claim) twice the prevailing price per square foot for prime office space.

Like most things, that this particular action by the city isn't entirely black and white. Depending on the judge and the jury (they're demanding a jury trial), the lawsuit may have some legs.

By the way, I agree entirely that the discrimination policies of the BSA are reprehensible. Nonetheless, we live in a country where even scoundrels are entitled to due process.

[giza.livejournal.com]

Huh, that's interesting. They may be entitled to compensation for #2... and it would sure be nice if their PR people had brought that to peoples' attention, it might have gotten them at least a little sympathy.

But yeah, let 'em have their due process. I think by going nuclear and launching this lawsuit, they're going to just get more negative attention out of it. Oh well.