LESBIAN/GAY/BI/TRANS RIGHTS
Struggle wins ruling against Boy Scout bigotry
By Greg
Butterfield
An important legal milestone was set for the
lesbian/gay/bi/trans communities on Aug. 4 when the New Jersey
Supreme Court unanimously upheld a lower court ruling against
the Boy Scouts of America. It marked the first time a state
high court has ruled against the Boy Scouts' anti-gay
policies.
James Dale brought the lawsuit against the scouts. Dale, an
Eagle Scout with 12 years in the group, was removed as an
assistant scout master in 1990 after the Newark Star-Ledger
reported that he was a leader of a Rutgers University lesbian
and gay student group.
The New York Blade newspaper called Dale's lawsuit "the
nation's most high-profile case challenging the Boy Scouts ban
on gays."
The court's ruling was no gift from the master class.
Rather, it was the product of three decades of struggle by
lesbian, gay, bi and trans people for equal rights since the
1969 Stonewall Rebellion.
The ongoing struggle by that movement against oppression has
had a powerful impact on mass consciousness.
While the Boy Scouts, the Pentagon and other reactionary
institutions continue to appeal to bigotry, polls show that
most people in this country oppose anti-gay discrimination. For
example, almost half--and more than half of those under age
35--now believe same-sex marriage should be legal.
`Big victory'
In its decision, the seven-member court said the scouts had
violated New Jersey's civil-rights law, which prohibits
discrimination in public accomodations based on sexual
orientation.
The Boy Scouts tried to get around this by claiming status
as a "private club." As such, the group argued, the scouts have
the right to discriminate as a matter of free speech. In four
other states--California, Connecticut, Kansas and
Oregon--courts have gone along with that argument.
But the New Jersey court pointed to the group's close ties
with schools and other government-funded institutions. These
ties make the Boy Scouts "a place of public accommodation," the
court said.
"To recognize Boy Scouts' First Amendment claim would be
tantamount to tolerating the expulsion of an individual solely
because of his status as a homosexual--an act of discrimination
unprotected by the First Amendment freedom of speech," wrote
Chief Justice Deborah T. Poritz.
Attorney Evan Wolfson, who represented Dale, told the Blade
the ruling is a "big victory."
Wolfson said "The New Jersey Supreme Court said what the
lower court said: that gay youth are entitled to participate in
the Boy Scouts and that gay men are more than fit and more than
qualified to serve as leaders."
The Boy Scouts are appealing the decision to the U.S.
Supreme Court.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
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