Don't Let Congress Endorse the Boy Scouts of America's Religious Discrimination!

Tell your senators that you oppose the Support Our Scouts Act of 2005 (S. 642), because it will not only allow federal funds to be used for discrimination on the grounds of religion and sexual orientation, but will also forbid any state or local government from acting on its own conscience to protect church-state separation. Urge them not to support or sponsor this act.

BACKGROUND

Despite the fact that the Boy Scouts of America excludes atheists and agnostics as well as gay, transgender and bisexual Americans, the Pentagon has been a long-time sponsor of the National Boy Scout Jamboree, granting them $2 million a year, a gift received by no other similar organizations. Due to the religious nature and exclusionary practices of the Boy Scouts, sponsorship of the Jamboree was recently ruled an unconstitutional violation of church-state separation by a federal court.

In response, Senator Bill Frist introduced the Support Our Scouts Act of 2005 (S. 642), which currently has 52 cosponsors. The text of the bill defines the Boy Scouts as a "youth organization," not a religious organization and would grant it the right to use federal funds or public forums, and allow permanent access to any federal, state, or local public property.


In an e-mail sent out to supporters, Senator Frist openly declared the religious nature of the Boy Scouts. Frist said "They also come together to celebrate their bedrock values. They talk about patriotism; they talk about public service; they talk about conservation; they talk about civic virtue; and they talk about faith." No mention was made of their discriminatory policies.

ACTION

We ask you to contact your senators and urge them to not support or cosponsor this bill. Visit
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d109:SN00642:@@@P to find out where your senators stands.

You can reach your senators by calling the Capitol Switchboard toll-free at 877-762-8762 and ask to speak with their office. The Senate website www.senate.gov also lists the direct office lines and e-mail addresses for
every senator. It is important that Atheist and Humanist voices be heard at this critical juncture.

The Support Our Scouts Act of 2005 will be taken up in the Senate very soon!