 |
|
About San Diego Scouting For All |
|
|
|
About San Diego Scouting For All |
|
San Diego Scouting For All has been established
in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court
ruling
upholding the
right of the
Boy Scouts of America
(BSA) as a private
organization to deny membership to James Dale (or any
youth or adult) based on sexual orientation. Pictured to the right
is James Dale.The group, San Diego Scouting For All, is comprised of long-time scouters and non-scouters, gay and straight, dedicated to ending the exclusionary policies of the Boy Scouts of America. Virtually all are Eagle Scouts, some of whom have publicly resigned their badges as a form of protest against the Boy Scouts of America national policy. San Diego Scouting For All evolved as an outcropping of Scouting For All (national), an organization founded by a 13 year old Eagle Scout, Steven Cozza who felt compelled to change the discriminatory policies of the Boy Scouts of America. San Diego Scouting For All is also dealing with the issue of the sweetheart lease (see current court ruling victory information --July 31, 2003 and August 14, 2004 ) the City of San Diego provides the Desert Pacific Council (the local Boy Scouts of America council which serves San Diego and Imperial Counties) for prime Balboa Park property despite a city ordinance barring the city from entering into contractual agreements with organizations that discriminate based on sexual orientation or religious belief. The City of San Diego leases this space to the Boy Scouts for $1.00 per year. Prior to the San Diego City Council vote (December 2001) that renewed the Boy Scouts' lease for another 40 years, a number of old scouters joined forces with concerned community members to form the core of the "Balboa Park for All" alliance. The express purpose of Balboa Park for All--to inform the general public about how the city of San Diego willfully condones and subsidizes discrimination against a substantial percentage of the tax-paying populace--was inspired by one of the key principles underlying the Boy Scout Oath: "helping other people at all times." By coordinating rallies, protests, speaking forums, and lobbying political entities, the San Diego Scouting For All and Balboa Park For All Alliance, aims to keep the spotlight focused on the Boy Scouts of America and its unfair discriminatory policies. We will continue to protest the sweetheart lease that the City of San Diego has given the Boy Scouts in Balboa Park because the City's own ordinance prohibits itself from doing business with discriminatory organizations! Scouting For All is also working to provide a lifeline to those who would be prohibited or marginalized from the Boy Scouts of America because of their sexual orientation or religious beliefs. 
|
|
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." –Martin Luther King, Jr. "Institutionalized homophobia in the Scouts or in church or school is the cruelest of all. It makes life miserable for young gay people and it misleads their peers with regard to the truth about gay people—that we are remarkably similar to the rest." –Ian McKellen, Actor (Gandalf in Lord of the Rings and Magneto in X-Men), quoted with permission. Main site: http://www.mckellen.com Quote: http://www.mckellen.com/epost/m030924.htm |