For Immediate Release and Distribution
Scouting for All
Action Alert
February 20, 2005


Contact
M.J. Christensen
State Director of Colorado
Scouting for All
scoutingforall@gayrockies.net
http://www.scoutingforall.org/

Scott Cozza, Pres.
Scouting for All
cozzahived@aol.com
S4A National Office
Tel: 707-778-0564

House Passes Resolution, Calls Boy Scouts a "National Treasure" Scouting for All Responds.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution urging the Department of Defense to continue its tradition of supporting the Boy Scouts of America. House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Texas) issued a statement saying "The Boy Scouts of America are a national treasure. They have taught generations of American boys the fundamentals of patriotism, community service and good citizenship - we won't let frivolous lawsuits from the ACLU put a stop to that." Mr. Delay went on to say that "the ACLU has filed a lot of ridiculous lawsuits in its time, but that attacking the Boy Scouts is beyond the pale".

Scouting for All strongly disagrees. The American Civil Liberties Union exists to protect the rights of American Citizens. Since the Boy Scouts of America continues to insist on its right to discriminate against gay and nontheistic Americans, the ACLU is well within its charter by trying to end any special relationships between the Boy Scouts and the American Government, especially direct government sponsorship of discriminatory Boy Scout units. The Department of Defense has already agreed to end such sponsorship, which is a clear indication that the lawsuit isn't frivolous.

The lawsuit that sparked this controversy has been brought by the ACLU and seeks to end more Pentagon support of the Boy Scouts of America. As long as the Boy Scouts of America continues to bar gay, atheist, and other nontheistic youth and adults from participating, they can receive no special benefits from American taxpayers as a supposedly private, discriminatory organization.

We have no wish to dispute the Boy Scouts' long tradition of helping American youth, but their recent policies of exclusion cannot be tolerated. Along with camping and leadership skills, the BSA is currently teaching bigotry to today's youth, and this can no longer be accepted. If the Boy Scouts of America wishes to continue its discriminatory practices, let us end government support of the organization.

Scouting for All is asking all members and supporters to write a letter to their Representatives, letting them know that as long as the Boy Scouts continues to discriminate, the government has no right to support them.
There is no room in American Society for an official sanction of a discriminatory organization.

You can find contact information for your Representatives at http://www.house.gov. To send an email to your Representative, go to: http://www.house.gov/writerep/. You can also write to:

Tom Delay (R-Texas, house majority leader who issued pro-BSA statement) Washington DC Office 242 Cannon HOB Washington, DC 20515 Ph. (202) 225-5951 Fax (202) 225-5241

District Office
10701 Corporate Drive, Suite 118
Stafford, TX 77477
Ph. (281) 240-3700
Fax (281) 240-2959

Representative Joel Hefley (R-Colorado - sponsor of House Resolution calling for DOD to continue support of BSA) Colorado Springs Office 104 S. Cascade Ave., Suite 105 Colorado Springs, CO 80903 719-520-0055 voice 719-520-0840 fax

Washington, D.C. Office
2372 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
202-225-4422 voice
202-225-1942 fax