How You Can Help STOP
Tax Payer Money from
Supporting the Boy Scouts of America

Scouting For All says our tax payer money should NOT be used in any way to support a discriminatory organization. Lets work to STOP government support of the Boy Scouts of America, an organization that discriminates against gay (GLBT) and atheist youth and adults.

Most people don't realize that public schools are one of the largest participants in the Boy Scouts of America supposedly "private" organization. Even though the Boy Scouts have the right to practice such discrimination (James Dale Vs BSA US Supreme Court decision, June 29, 2000), public schools do NOT -- yet the practice continues today.

Scout Units including packs and troops aren't owned by the Boy Scouts of America, they are "owned and operated", as the BSA describes it, by the "charter partner." For example, a Cub Scout Pack is really a youth group run by, say, a local church, which agrees to run the group following the BSA Cub Scout program.

The problem is, public schools also charter or sponsor, "own and operate" many of these youth groups, and public schools are agreeing to exclude all gays and atheists as members -- even though it's illegal for a public school to do so. A school can form and run a youth group, but they can't sign an agreement with a private, discriminatory group like the BSA to exclude gays and atheists from the school's youth group, any more than they could form a soccer team and sign an agreement with a restricted club to exclude Jewish students.

There are over 8,000 scout units chartered to government agencies today. NONE of these can legally exclude atheists; gays are covered in many (but not all) states by state law.

Find schools or Police departments in your area and ask them why they are unlawfully running a scout unit (pack or troop) that excludes gay and atheist children and adults; ask the local Fire department or Parks & Recreation department why they are supporting a "private, discriminatory" youth group that teaches children that being gay is immoral and that gay and atheist children and adults are morally inferior.

Background
In analyzing official Boy Scouts of America information (circa Jan 2005) on 52,062 Cub Scout Packs and 43,908 Boy Scout Troops, at least 6,546 (or about 12.5%) of the Packs and 2,360 (about 5%) of the Troops appear to be chartered (that is, sponsored) by government agencies such as public schools, Police departments, Fire departments, park & recreation departments, and towns. That's nearly 9,000 Packs and Troops with over a quarter of a million members.

The Cub & Boy Scout programs are part of the Boy Scouts of America, which does not allow atheists or gays to join.

The BSA persists in chartering units to hundreds of public schools, expecting the schools to practice illegal discrimination on their behalf!

Who owns a Pack or a Troop?
The Boy Scouts don't own individual Cub Scout Packs; they are "owned and operated" (the BSA's own description) by their respective chartering organizations. Government agencies cannot legally "own and operate" a youth group that excludes people for their religious views and/or sexual orientation.

The Boy Scouts know this, yet they persist in chartering discriminatory BSA units to public schools and other government entities all across the US. Public Schools are one of the largest charter partners with the Boy Scouts, with thousands of Packs and Troops, and hundreds of thousands of members, even after the Boy Scouts went to court over their right to exclude atheists and gays, in spite of the fact that no public school in the US can practice such discrimination.

National Boy Scouts of America (Irving, Texas):
972-580-2000 (ask for David Park in the legal department)

Or write:
Boy Scouts of America
1325 W. Walnut Hill Ln.
PO Box 152079
Irving, TX 75015-2079

NOTE: The BSA has announced that all government charters will be re-chartered to private organizations, thanks in part to this list which demonstrated to the ACLU the extent of the problem.