• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD

California Judges Barred From Joining Boy Scouts Due To Discriminatory Ban on Gay Leaders

January 24, 2015 by John Wright

State judges in California can no longer be members of the Boy Scouts beginning next year — at least until the Scouts lift a ban on gay adult leaders. 

The California Supreme Court voted unanimously this week to eliminate an exception for youth nonprofits to a rule that prohibits judges from belonging to groups that discriminate based on sexual orientation. 

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: 

Scouts“The people of California have a right to an impartial and unbiased judiciary,” Richard Fybel, a state appeals court justice in Santa Ana and chairman of the high court’s ethics advisory committee, said Friday. “This is important to accomplishing that.” … 

In a statement that responded to the committee’s proposal last year, Deron Smith, a spokesman at Boy Scouts headquarters in Irving, Texas, said the Scouts “would be disappointed with anything that limits our volunteers’ ability to serve more youth. … Today, more than ever, youth need the character and leadership programs of Scouting.”

The proposal had drawn a mixed response from judges. In written comments to the court, one opponent said the prohibition would elevate “gay rights above religious freedom rights,” and another said it would interfere with judges’ rights to raise their children as they choose.

California judges have been barred from membership in groups that discriminate based on sexual orientation since 1996 — with the exception of youth nonprofits. In 2003, the state's high court amended the rule to say judges who are members of the Boy Scouts must disclose their affiliation in gay-rights cases and recuse themselves if there's a conflict of interest. 

Last year, the ethics advisory committee recommended eliminating the exception altogether, and the proposal was backed by the California Judges Association, which represents three-quarters of the state's judges.

The Chronicle notes that judges can still be members of religious groups that discriminate, but not groups that discriminate based on religion. The Boy Scouts is not considered a religious group but does discriminate based on religion — barring atheists in addition to gays.

In 2013, the Boy Scouts of America voted to lift a ban on gay youth but continue to bar gay adult leaders. The organization recently reported that membership dropped 7.4 percent in 2014 in the wake of the decision.  

Filed Under: Boy Scouts, California, LGBT Rights Tagged With: Boy Scouts, California, gay rights, Gay youth, LGBT Rights, san francisco

Recent Posts

  • Gloria Gaynor, Herd Immunity, Louie Gohmert, Dianne Feinstein, Ian McKellen, Tyson, WAP, Billy Porter: HOT LINKS

    Gloria Gaynor, Herd Immunity, Louie Gohmert, Dianne Feinstein, Ian McKellen, Tyson, WAP, Billy Porter: HOT LINKS

    3 hours ago
  • Kathy Griffin Drags Gay Son of NFL Legend Herschel Walker After Finger-Wagging Rant Claiming Trump Won Election: WATCH

    Kathy Griffin Drags Gay Son of NFL Legend Herschel Walker After Finger-Wagging Rant Claiming Trump Won Election: WATCH

    7 hours ago
  • Trump Has Told Advisers That He Will Refuse to Leave White House on Inauguration Day: REPORT

    Trump Has Told Advisers That He Will Refuse to Leave White House on Inauguration Day: REPORT

    8 hours ago
  • Ellen DeGeneres Says COVID Gave Her ‘Excruciating’ Back Pain: WATCH

    Ellen DeGeneres Says COVID Gave Her ‘Excruciating’ Back Pain: WATCH

    9 hours ago
Previous Post: « You Can Binge-Watch the Entire Season of ‘Transparent’ for Free Today
Next Post: Snooki Becomes Ordained Minister to Officiate Gay Wedding »

Primary Sidebar

  • Gloria Gaynor, Herd Immunity, Louie Gohmert, Dianne Feinstein, Ian McKellen, Tyson, WAP, Billy Porter: HOT LINKS

  • Kathy Griffin Drags Gay Son of NFL Legend Herschel Walker After Finger-Wagging Rant Claiming Trump Won Election: WATCH

  • Trump Has Told Advisers That He Will Refuse to Leave White House on Inauguration Day: REPORT

Recent Posts

  • Gloria Gaynor, Herd Immunity, Louie Gohmert, Dianne Feinstein, Ian McKellen, Tyson, WAP, Billy Porter: HOT LINKS

    Gloria Gaynor, Herd Immunity, Louie Gohmert, Dianne Feinstein, Ian McKellen, Tyson, WAP, Billy Porter: HOT LINKS

    3 hours ago
  • Kathy Griffin Drags Gay Son of NFL Legend Herschel Walker After Finger-Wagging Rant Claiming Trump Won Election: WATCH

    Kathy Griffin Drags Gay Son of NFL Legend Herschel Walker After Finger-Wagging Rant Claiming Trump Won Election: WATCH

    7 hours ago
  • Trump Has Told Advisers That He Will Refuse to Leave White House on Inauguration Day: REPORT

    Trump Has Told Advisers That He Will Refuse to Leave White House on Inauguration Day: REPORT

    8 hours ago
  • Ellen DeGeneres Says COVID Gave Her ‘Excruciating’ Back Pain: WATCH

    Ellen DeGeneres Says COVID Gave Her ‘Excruciating’ Back Pain: WATCH

    9 hours ago
  • GOP Rep. Joe Wilson, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt Test Positive for COVID

    GOP Rep. Joe Wilson, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt Test Positive for COVID

    10 hours ago
  • Nicolle Wallace Smacks Down Pearl-Clutching Marco Rubio After Biden Campaign Manager Calls GOP Lawmakers ‘a Bunch of F**kers’

    Nicolle Wallace Smacks Down Pearl-Clutching Marco Rubio After Biden Campaign Manager Calls GOP Lawmakers ‘a Bunch of F**kers’

    11 hours ago
  • Atlantic City Mayor Auctions Off Opportunity to Demolish Trump’s Casino: WATCH

    Atlantic City Mayor Auctions Off Opportunity to Demolish Trump’s Casino: WATCH

    11 hours ago
  • French President Emmanuel Macron Tests Positive for COVID, is Symptomatic

    French President Emmanuel Macron Tests Positive for COVID, is Symptomatic

    11 hours ago
  • Mike Pence Will Preside Over Final Confirmation of Biden’s Victory and Then Fly Out of Town

    Mike Pence Will Preside Over Final Confirmation of Biden’s Victory and Then Fly Out of Town

    12 hours ago
  • Pompeo Holiday Bash, Letitia James, Rupert Everett, Wild Mink, Arlo Parks, Billie Eilish, Moscow Mitch: HOT LINKS

    Pompeo Holiday Bash, Letitia James, Rupert Everett, Wild Mink, Arlo Parks, Billie Eilish, Moscow Mitch: HOT LINKS

    1 day ago

Most Commented

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Footer

Copyright © 2020 · Log in