Bigot Boy Scouts Sue Philadelphia Over Rent Increase

You may remember back in December I posted that the Boy Scouts would be evicted on June 1st from the Philadelphia building they've been renting for $1 a year since 1928 because the city is forcing them to abide by its non-discrimination policies and the Boy Scouts continue to refuse to open up their membership to gays.

Well, the Scouts aren't having it and they've filed a lawsuit against the city to avoid paying the $200,000-a-year rent the city will soon begin charging them to occupy the landmark property:

"The federal suit filed Friday accuses the city of censorship for targeting the Scouts but maintaining free or nominal leases with other groups that limit membership, such as Baptist and Roman Catholic church groups and The Colonial Dames of America. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the Boy Scouts, as a private group, have a First Amendment right to bar gays. But the policy has had consequences, with municipalities, charities and donors withholding support. 'We will not allow discrimination in providing services on city property,' Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said Tuesday. A 1982 city ordinance bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and other grounds. 'We're not punishing them for not admitting homosexuals,' City Solicitor Shelley Smith said. 'But they can't get free rent and violate our policy.' Smith said the city was unaware of any discrimination by other groups with city-subsidized space, but that it would investigate any complaints."

Previously
Philadelphia Boy Scouts Evicted Over Anti-Gay Bigotry [tr]

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Gay Canadian Health Minister Smitherman criticized for proposing to wear adult diaper as test in response to nursing home 'filth' issues: "Opposition politicians, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and a nursing home association said Smitherman's plan to test drive a diaper shows he doesn't understand the issue is about staffing levels – not diaper technology. 'For him to suggest that's his answer is a disgrace,' said Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory. 'It's some kind of a sideshow he seems determined to put on when, in fact, I think people in Ontario would say: 'George Smitherman, do something about it. Let's see the revolution you promised in long-term care.''"

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Texas governor Rick Perry holds book-signing for Boy Scout tome: "Perry's tour to promote the book has garnered national attention. The book debuted at No. 1 on The Washington Post's best-seller list for hardcover nonfiction in Washington-area bookshops. His office touted that achievement the day after The New York Times Magazine published an interview in which Perry said scouting was about building character and not about sex. The word 'homosexual,' he said, suggests that gay people are focused on sex."

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Rick Perry: If Homosexuality Isn't About Sex, Call It Something Else

In the New York Times magazine on Sunday, Deborah Solomon interviewed Texas Governor Rick Perry, whose crusade in defense of the Boy Scouts of America is being supplemented by royalties from his new book On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For. The Boy Scouts, of course have been under fire for their discriminatory policies against gays. Most recently, they were evicted from a Philadelphia building they had leased for nearly 80 years because of the city's anti-discrimination ordinance.

Perry says homosexuality is clearly just about sex, and there's no place for sex in the Boy Scouts.

SOLOMON: Let’s talk about your new book, 'On My Honor,' which draws on your experience as an Eagle Scout and champions the values of the Boy Scouts of America, to whom you are donating your royalties.

PERRY: Yes, to their legal-defense fund.

SOLOMON: Which has been fighting the A.C.L.U., to keep gays out of the scouts. Why do you see that as a worthy cause?

PERRY: I am pretty clear about this one. Scouting ought to be about building character, not about sex. Period. Precious few parents enroll their boys in the Scouts to get a crash course in sexual orientation.

SOLOMON: Why do you think a homosexual would be more likely to bring the subject of sex into a conversation than a heterosexual?

PERRY: Well, the ban in scouting applies to scout leaders. When you have a clearly open homosexual scout leader, the scouts are going to talk about it. And they’re not there to learn about that. They’re there to learn about what it means to be loyal and trustworthy and thrifty.

SOLOMON: But don’t you think that homosexuals might also be interested in being loyal and thrifty?

PERRY: The argument that gets made is that homosexuality is about sex. Do you agree?

SOLOMON: No.

PERRY: Well, then why don’t they call it something else?

Perry recently told the AP: "Most Americans have a live-and-let-live view about homosexuality. Scouting's leaders have the same tolerant view, but they do not believe that someone whose personal agenda is to make an open issue of his sexual orientation should be a Scout leader. Scouting is not about sex, but about building character ... The Boy Scouts is not the proper intersection for a debate over sexual preference."

Troop Leader [nyt]
Texas Gov. Defends Boy Scouts in Book [ap]

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