Former New York City Mayor Edward Koch says NYC should Deny Supporting the BSA as long as the BSA Discriminates

A triangular tug-of-war has begun in New York City as Former Mayor Edward Koch joined forces with City Councilwomen Kathryn E. Freed and Margarita Lopez (both D-Manhattan) in challenging Dan Gasparo, the Chief Executive of the Greater New York Councils Boy Scouts of America, to act on his words that, "We are not a hate group. We do not teach, promote or tolerate discrimination in any form."

The New York City Council¹s Contracts Committee is threatening to pull the plug on the preferential treatment being given to Gasparo's NYC BSA organization unless they denounce the BSA¹s National Policy which continues to use a U. S. Supreme Court decision to solidify its apparent inalienable homophobia as "a constitutional right to exclude."

Councilwoman Lopez introduced a resolution to the New York City Council¹s Contracts Committee on February 26, 2001, urging them to withhold city funds from Gasparo's organization; Councilwoman Freed, the Committee's Chair, then set a 120 day limit for Gasparo to prove to the Contract's Committee that active non-discrimination of gays had commenced.

New York City's anti-discrimination policy gives the Contracts Committee the right to sever its support of the NYC BSA if their exclusion of gays continues.