Sometimes I'm almost encouraged:
http://washtimes.com/national/default-200094222338.htm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boy Scouts grows to a
record enrollment
By Joyce Howard Price
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Activists for homosexuals have battled publicly with the
Boy Scouts of America for nearly two decades over the
Scouts' ban on homosexual leaders, and membership in the
Scouts has climbed as the conflict has intensified.
"During the last three years,
we've grown by 7 percent," said
Gregg Shields, spokesman for the
Boy Scouts, which finished last
year with 6.2 million members —
5 million youths and 1.2 million
adults.
"The net result is that we're
approaching record-high
membership. . . . We're doing very
well, thank you," Mr. Shields said
in a recent telephone interview
from his office in Dallas.
He noted that the last time the
Boy Scouts had nearly 5 million
youth members was back in the
early 1970s, when rolls reached
about 4.6 million.
The Boy Scouts' membership has grown during a
three-year period when there has been much public focus on
its policy barring homosexuals, as a result of major
developments in a lawsuit. The suit was brought by James
Dale, a former New Jersey troop leader, who was kicked
out of the Scouts in 1990 after his homosexuality was
discovered.
The case ended in June, when the Supreme Court ruled
that the Boy Scouts — a private organization — has the legal
right to bar homosexual leaders.
Membership growth in the Boy Scouts has been
particularly strong in the heavily homosexual San Francisco
area.
"Our membership went up 13.7 percent last year and 14
percent the year before that, for a 28 percent rise in just two
years," said Steve Barnes, executive director of the San
Francisco Bay Area Council of the Boy Scouts, which
includes more than 46,300 juveniles.
"We're the fastest-growing metro council in America," Mr.
Barnes added.
There's been strong growth in Scouting in San Francisco
and elsewhere, despite the fact that the Lambda Legal
Defense Fund and other homosexual rights advocacy groups
have urged young people and their parents to turn to other
youth groups that "do not discriminate" on the basis of sexual
orientation.
The groups have stepped up these calls since the June 28
Supreme Court ruling in the Dale case. They have identified
the Boys and Girls Clubs, the National 4-H Council, the
Campfire Boys and Girls, and the Girl Scouts as acceptable
alternatives. Boys, however, cannot join the Girl Scouts, just
as girls cannot join the Cubs and Boy Scouts. Both girls and
boys can join the Explorers.
Asked why he believes the anti-Boy Scout message is not
registering with families in San Francisco, where homosexuals
wield significant political influence, Mr. Barnes said, "It's
because parents recognize the Scouting program has value
for their children."
Gregg Shields, spokesman for the Boy Scouts of
America, agrees. "We're not a recreation program. Our
mission is to help people's character grow and to make
ethical decisions. The Boy Scouts does not expect everyone
to agree with our values and beliefs . . . but we feel strongly
parents want" their children exposed to the "kinds of things
the Boy Scouts are teaching."
As for why homosexuals are not welcome in the Boy
Scouts, Mr. Shields said the Boy Scout oath calls for
members to be "morally straight." He pointed out that adults
who serve as Boy Scout leaders are also members of the
group and must take the oath.
"An avowed homosexual is not a role model for the Boy
Scout oath. So we do not extend membership to
homosexuals," he said.
Homosexual critics of the Boy Scouts have had some
success in getting several dozen private corporations,
foundations, charities, public school systems or municipal
governments either to end their support for the Boy Scouts or
to consider ending it, in light of the group's policy against
gays.
"Over the past two decades, some people have disagreed
with the Boy Scouts [on this issue] and stopped their funding.
Levi Strauss & Company stopped back in 1992. But there
have always been other groups to replace those that
withdrew their support," said Mr. Shields.
Lambda Legal Defense Fund keeps a list on its Web site
—www.lambdalegal.org — of groups and government
entities it says have either ended financial support or property
arrangements they had with the Boy Scouts or are
considering doing so. The list includes eight United Way
chapters that have already defunded the Boy Scouts — three
in California (San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz)
and others in New Haven, Conn., Portland, Maine; Somerset
County, N.J.; Santa Fe, N.M.; and southeastern New
England.
Lambda also identifies four religious organizations — the
United Methodists, the Episcopalians, Reform Jews and
Unitarians — it says have passed resolutions condemning the
Boy Scouts' policy.
The pro-homosexual legal group also cites various public
school systems, such as San Francisco and Oakland, and
municipal governments, such as Chicago, that have
discontinued former arrangements they had with the Boy
Scouts. Chicago ended its sponsorship of 28 different
Explorers groups after being named in a lawsuit brought by
the American Civil Liberties Union in 1996.
Boy Scout officials suggest some of Lambda's information
is now irrelevant. Mr. Barnes of the San Francisco Bay Area
Council said San Francisco and Oakland public schools
denied Scout troops use of their facilities eight years ago.
"We lost 15,000 members at that time. But we've made that
back and more" and found alternate facilities, he said.
Some of Lambda's information is incorrect. For instance,
its Web site says the San Francisco-based Wells Fargo &
Co., the nation's seventh largest bank, pulled its donations to
the Boy Scouts.
But Larry Haeg, a spokesman for Wells Fargo, said the
bank made that decision way back in 1992. He said that
policy remained in effect until 1998, when Wells Fargo
merged with another bank, the Norwest Corp. of
Minneapolis. "Norwest saw a need to decentralize
decision-making, and it was agreed to let local bank
presidents decide if they want to donate to the Boy Scouts,"
said Mr. Haeg. He was unable to say how many do or do not
make such contributions today.
"And we have made no funding decisions regarding the
Boy Scouts as a result of the Supreme Court decision," he
added.
Lambda has also listed Chase Manhattan Bank among the
institutions that have withdrawn their financial support from
the Boy Scouts. However, Chase spokesman Jim Finn
announced Thursday that the bank will continue its support.
Withdrawing it, the bank said, "would be harmful to
thousands of children." Mr. Finn said Chase Manhattan
contributes $200,000 to the Boy Scouts annually.
http://washtimes.com/national/default-200094222338.htm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Boy Scouts grows to a
record enrollment
By Joyce Howard Price
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Activists for homosexuals have battled publicly with the
Boy Scouts of America for nearly two decades over the
Scouts' ban on homosexual leaders, and membership in the
Scouts has climbed as the conflict has intensified.
"During the last three years,
we've grown by 7 percent," said
Gregg Shields, spokesman for the
Boy Scouts, which finished last
year with 6.2 million members —
5 million youths and 1.2 million
adults.
"The net result is that we're
approaching record-high
membership. . . . We're doing very
well, thank you," Mr. Shields said
in a recent telephone interview
from his office in Dallas.
He noted that the last time the
Boy Scouts had nearly 5 million
youth members was back in the
early 1970s, when rolls reached
about 4.6 million.
The Boy Scouts' membership has grown during a
three-year period when there has been much public focus on
its policy barring homosexuals, as a result of major
developments in a lawsuit. The suit was brought by James
Dale, a former New Jersey troop leader, who was kicked
out of the Scouts in 1990 after his homosexuality was
discovered.
The case ended in June, when the Supreme Court ruled
that the Boy Scouts — a private organization — has the legal
right to bar homosexual leaders.
Membership growth in the Boy Scouts has been
particularly strong in the heavily homosexual San Francisco
area.
"Our membership went up 13.7 percent last year and 14
percent the year before that, for a 28 percent rise in just two
years," said Steve Barnes, executive director of the San
Francisco Bay Area Council of the Boy Scouts, which
includes more than 46,300 juveniles.
"We're the fastest-growing metro council in America," Mr.
Barnes added.
There's been strong growth in Scouting in San Francisco
and elsewhere, despite the fact that the Lambda Legal
Defense Fund and other homosexual rights advocacy groups
have urged young people and their parents to turn to other
youth groups that "do not discriminate" on the basis of sexual
orientation.
The groups have stepped up these calls since the June 28
Supreme Court ruling in the Dale case. They have identified
the Boys and Girls Clubs, the National 4-H Council, the
Campfire Boys and Girls, and the Girl Scouts as acceptable
alternatives. Boys, however, cannot join the Girl Scouts, just
as girls cannot join the Cubs and Boy Scouts. Both girls and
boys can join the Explorers.
Asked why he believes the anti-Boy Scout message is not
registering with families in San Francisco, where homosexuals
wield significant political influence, Mr. Barnes said, "It's
because parents recognize the Scouting program has value
for their children."
Gregg Shields, spokesman for the Boy Scouts of
America, agrees. "We're not a recreation program. Our
mission is to help people's character grow and to make
ethical decisions. The Boy Scouts does not expect everyone
to agree with our values and beliefs . . . but we feel strongly
parents want" their children exposed to the "kinds of things
the Boy Scouts are teaching."
As for why homosexuals are not welcome in the Boy
Scouts, Mr. Shields said the Boy Scout oath calls for
members to be "morally straight." He pointed out that adults
who serve as Boy Scout leaders are also members of the
group and must take the oath.
"An avowed homosexual is not a role model for the Boy
Scout oath. So we do not extend membership to
homosexuals," he said.
Homosexual critics of the Boy Scouts have had some
success in getting several dozen private corporations,
foundations, charities, public school systems or municipal
governments either to end their support for the Boy Scouts or
to consider ending it, in light of the group's policy against
gays.
"Over the past two decades, some people have disagreed
with the Boy Scouts [on this issue] and stopped their funding.
Levi Strauss & Company stopped back in 1992. But there
have always been other groups to replace those that
withdrew their support," said Mr. Shields.
Lambda Legal Defense Fund keeps a list on its Web site
—www.lambdalegal.org — of groups and government
entities it says have either ended financial support or property
arrangements they had with the Boy Scouts or are
considering doing so. The list includes eight United Way
chapters that have already defunded the Boy Scouts — three
in California (San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz)
and others in New Haven, Conn., Portland, Maine; Somerset
County, N.J.; Santa Fe, N.M.; and southeastern New
England.
Lambda also identifies four religious organizations — the
United Methodists, the Episcopalians, Reform Jews and
Unitarians — it says have passed resolutions condemning the
Boy Scouts' policy.
The pro-homosexual legal group also cites various public
school systems, such as San Francisco and Oakland, and
municipal governments, such as Chicago, that have
discontinued former arrangements they had with the Boy
Scouts. Chicago ended its sponsorship of 28 different
Explorers groups after being named in a lawsuit brought by
the American Civil Liberties Union in 1996.
Boy Scout officials suggest some of Lambda's information
is now irrelevant. Mr. Barnes of the San Francisco Bay Area
Council said San Francisco and Oakland public schools
denied Scout troops use of their facilities eight years ago.
"We lost 15,000 members at that time. But we've made that
back and more" and found alternate facilities, he said.
Some of Lambda's information is incorrect. For instance,
its Web site says the San Francisco-based Wells Fargo &
Co., the nation's seventh largest bank, pulled its donations to
the Boy Scouts.
But Larry Haeg, a spokesman for Wells Fargo, said the
bank made that decision way back in 1992. He said that
policy remained in effect until 1998, when Wells Fargo
merged with another bank, the Norwest Corp. of
Minneapolis. "Norwest saw a need to decentralize
decision-making, and it was agreed to let local bank
presidents decide if they want to donate to the Boy Scouts,"
said Mr. Haeg. He was unable to say how many do or do not
make such contributions today.
"And we have made no funding decisions regarding the
Boy Scouts as a result of the Supreme Court decision," he
added.
Lambda has also listed Chase Manhattan Bank among the
institutions that have withdrawn their financial support from
the Boy Scouts. However, Chase spokesman Jim Finn
announced Thursday that the bank will continue its support.
Withdrawing it, the bank said, "would be harmful to
thousands of children." Mr. Finn said Chase Manhattan
contributes $200,000 to the Boy Scouts annually.
)is not (last I checked, there was only one entity who was elected for that job), then I'm going for the gay guy.