Date: Mon, 23 Aug 1999 17:13:10 -0700 From: Jean Richter Subject: 8/23/99 P.E.R.S.O.N. Project news [I'm back! The trip & the eclipse went fantastically well; we luckily left Turkey several days before the earthquake and were safely in Scotland when it happened. If you can afford it, please consider making a donation to the Turkish earthquake relief fund through either the Red Cross (www.redcross.org) or the Turkish-American Association of California (www.taaca.org)] 1. FL: News from GLSEN Miami 2. NJ: High court rules that Boy Scouts can't discriminate against gays 3. CA: San Diego asked to end subsidy of Boy Scouts ============================================================================= From: Glsenmiami@aol.com Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 21:52:10 EDT Subject: GLSEN/Miami & UTD GLS Caucus News "Unscientifically proven to take less than 5 minutes to read." GLSEN's (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) mission is to teach respect for all in schools. GLSEN/Miami (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) marks "Back to School" by hosting its monthly social on South Beach at Balans Restaurant, 1022 Lincoln Road (next to the Colony Theater) Thursday, August 26, from 5:30 - 7:30 PM. Reduced food and drink prices are offered until 6 PM. Everyone -- professional educator or not -- who supports GLSEN's mission of "teaching respect for all in our schools" is invited to attend. Bring a friend, and eat, drink, relax and schmooze -- a great way to begin the school year! For more information, call 305/668-8415 or email glsenmiami@aol.com. UTD GLS Caucus (United Teachers of Dade Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Caucus) will host its monthly meeting Thursday, September 2, at UTD Headquarters, 2929 SW 3rd Ave., Miami, from 5:30 - 6:30 PM. Members, interested supporters and friends, are invited to attend. Agenda items include a report from the domestic partner benefits committee. For more information, call 305/854-0220. GLSEN will host its 3rd National Conference, "Teaching Respect for All" in Atlanta October 1 - 3. Workshops include "Becoming a Change Agent," "Responding to the Right Wing," "Youth Organizing - Building Youth/Adult Partnerships" and "LGBT Educators Empowerment." GLSEN/Miami has been invited to present a program on its Safe School Awareness Training. For more information or to register, call toll-free 1-877-99-GLSEN (45736) or visit GLSEN's website at www.glsen.org. GLSEN/Miami has set Friday, October 15, a designated staff planning day, for its Miami-Dade County Public Schools Safe Schools Awareness Training. These trainings help school staff understand the the issues and needs of sexual minority youth and provide strategies, interventions, and resources to create classrooms and schools that are safe for all students. For more information, call 305/668-8415 or email glsenmiami@aol.com. GLSEN/Miami, PFLAG/Orlando and members of Orlando's Delta Youth Group have been invited to present a panel discussion about sexual minority youth issues in schools at the National Middle School Association's 26th Annual Conference in Orlando October 28-30. For more information about the Conference or to register, call 1-800-528-NMSA (6672). For more information about GLSEN/Miami, email glsenmiami@aol.com; for UTD GLS Caucus, email merri@utofd.com; for GSLEN Ft. Lauderdale, email glsenftld@aol.com; for GLSEN Palm Beach, email glsenpb@aol.com; or visit GLSEN's website at www.glsen.org ================================================================================ Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 14:11:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Mike Montalvo Subject: NJ Supreme Court rules against BSA Folks, I'll be updating the Scouting Issues Research site ASAP with News Stories... The full court opinion should be out in the next day or too & I'll put it up ASAP. http://homestead.dejanews.com/bsa2/files/index.htm http://home.swbell.net/themike/Scouts/ A jumping up & down Mike Montalvo.... ============ 8/4/99 TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- The Boy Scouts of America's ban on homosexuals is illegal under New Jersey's anti-discrimination law, the state Supreme Court ruled today. [Deleted article. filemanager@qrd.org] _____________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com Reply-To: listserver@channelq.com Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 17:58:57 -0400 From: "Channel Q" To: QNews List Subject: ACLU: NJ High Court Says Ban on Gays in Boy Scouts Must Go New Jersey High Court Says Ban on Gays in Boy Scouts Must Go FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, August 4, 1999 TRENTON, NJ -- In a unanimous decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court today said that the Boy Scouts of America's practice of excluding or dismissing a member solely on the basis of sexual orientation is illegal under the state's anti-discrimination law. The Court also rejected the Scouts' claim that the First Amendment gives them the right to discriminate. The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, hailed the decision as a tremendous victory for lesbian and gay rights. The ruling upholds a March 1998 state appeals court decision that prohibited the Boy Scouts from banning gay members. "This decision debunks the notion that just because someone is gay means he or she is unfit to serve in the Boy Scouts or any other civic group for that matter," said Lenora Lapidus, Legal Director of the ACLU of New Jersey. "The Court did the right thing in denying the Scouts' claim that the First Amendment gives them the right to discriminate. People have the right to believe what they want, but that is no more a justification for discrimination now than it was in the South 40 years ago." The case arose in 1990 after James Dale, a Matawan assistant Scoutmaster, was ousted from the Boy Scouts when leaders discovered he was gay. Prior to his expulsion, Dale, an Eagle Scout, had risen successfully through the ranks and earned 30 merit badges and other awards during his 12 years in the organization. "Goverments and local charities have been increasingly unwilling to fund and sponsor Scout programs because the Scouts insist on discriminating," said Matthew Coles, Director of the ACLU's National Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. "This decision is bound to accellerate the trend against anti-gay policies." The court ruled that because the Boy Scouts of America are "places of public accommodation" that "emphasize open membership," they must adhere to New Jersey's anti-discrimination law and cannot deny any person "accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges" because of sexual orientation. While the Boy Scouts vowed to appeal today's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, the ACLU's Coles expressed doubt that they would hear the case. "The Court rejected a very similar argument that the United States Jaycees, a business association, made to justify excluding women," Coles said. "That was 15 years ago, and the Court ruled unanimously. I doubt they would revisit the issue now." Today is not the first time the ACLU has taken legal action to halt unfair practices of the Boy Scouts. In May 1998, the ACLU blocked an Oregon school district from actively recruiting Cub Scouts since they are required by the Boy Scouts of America to refuse membership to boys who do not "profess a belief in God, recognize an obligation to God and declare a duty to God." For similar reasons, this past April, the ACLU sued to end government sponsorship of Boy Scout programs in Illinois because they violated the constitutional requirement of separation of church and state. The ACLU has been involved in other challenges to Boy Scout bans in California and Washington, DC. _________________________________________________________________________ This message has been distributed as a free, non-profit informational service, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Please do not publish or post in a public place on the Internet, copyrighted material without permission and attribution. Forwarding of this material should not necessarily be construed as an endorsement of the content. Some messages may be from anti-gay organizations and are forwarded as opposition research. ============================================================================== Reply-To: listserver@channelq.com Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 17:27:04 -0400 From: "Channel Q" To: QNews List Subject: ACLU Demands San Diego End Public Subsidy of Boy Scouts ACLU Demands San Diego End Public Subsidy of Boy Scouts FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, August 4, 1999 SAN DIEGO -- The American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego & Imperial Counties and the Tom Homann Law Association today demanded that the City of San Diego stop subsidizing the activities of the Boy Scouts as long as it persists in discriminating on the basis of religion and sexual orientation. In a letter delivered this morning, the two organizations demanded that the City Council and Mayor terminate the City's leases, under which the Boy Scouts operate their headquarters in city-owned Balboa Park for $1 per year and receive rent-free use of facilities on city-owned property on Fiesta Island. After a long series of court battles, the California Supreme Court last year ruled that the Boy Scouts are a completely private religious organization, making them exempt from non-discrimination laws and permitting them to exclude boys and adult leaders who are agnostic, atheist or gay. The City of San Diego has stated that it would wait for the outcome of these court cases before deciding what to do about its subsidy of the Boy Scouts. With those cases complete, the organizations said the time has arrived for the City to address the Boy Scouts' discrimination. "The Boy Scouts can't have it both ways," said Linda Hills, Executive Director of the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties. "If they truly are a private religious organization, free to engage in any form of discrimination they choose, then they are not entitled to a government subsidy. Tax dollars should not be spent to promote intolerance." In their letter, the ACLU and THLA point out that both Boy Scout leases bar discrimination based on religion and provide that the Boy Scouts must abide by all laws and regulations of the City of San Diego. The City's Human Dignity Ordinance bans discrimination based on sexual orientation. The letter asks the City to enforce those contracts by requiring the Boy Scouts either to end their discrimination or to move their operations to facilities not owned by the City. The letter also details the City's constitutional obligation to avoid preference for, or support of, religious activity. The groups said that the Boy Scouts convinced the Supreme Court that instilling religious values was their primary organizational purpose and that the recreational aspect of scouting was secondary. Subsidizing discrimination against gays also puts the City in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. "The City cannot lease away people's rights, including the rights of gays, and atheists to be free from discrimination and to enjoy the use of unique public assets like Balboa Park and Fiesta Island," said M.E. Stephens, Co-President of the Tom Homann Law Association, San Diego's gay, lesbian, and bisexual bar association. "It is time for City leaders to earn their merit badge in diversity by ending their sponsorship of the Boy Scouts." A number of government entities have recently cut their ties with the Boy Scouts because of their intolerance. In 1993, the San Diego Unified School District banned Boy Scout activities from its campuses. Last year, following the California court decision, the City of Berkeley terminated free berthing space at a city marina for two Boy Scout training ships. And recently, the City of Chicago ended its thirty-year sponsorship of the Boy Scouts rather than be forced to defend the Scouts' exclusion of gays and atheists in court in response to a federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU. Both the City and County of San Diego Human Relations Commissions have condemned the Boy Scouts' discriminatory policies and have called on the City to ask the Scouts to vacate parkland. _________________________________________________________________________ This message has been distributed as a free, non-profit informational service, to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Please do not publish or post in a public place on the Internet, copyrighted material without permission and attribution. Forwarding of this material should not necessarily be construed as an endorsement of the content. Some messages may be from anti-gay organizations and are forwarded as opposition research. ================================================================================ Jean Richter -- richter@eecs.berkeley.edu The P.E.R.S.O.N. Project (Public Education Regarding Sexual Orientation Nationally) These messages are archived by state on our information-loaded free web site: http://www.youth.org/loco/PERSONProject/