Date:         Mon, 27 May 91 17:44:00 EDT
Subject:      Homosexual Scouting
From: 	      clarinews@clarinet.com

This was taken from a Clarinet article. For more information on Clarinet send
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       LOS ANGELES (UPI) -- The Boy Scouts of America are entitled to
prevent an openly homosexual man from becoming a Scout leader in order
to ``achieve its expressive goals,'' a judge ruled Tuesday.

       The American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the
long-standing civil rights lawsuit on behalf of a former Eagle Scout
forced to quit Scouting after he acknowledged his homosexuality,
immediately condemned the ruling.

       ``I think many people are going to be surprised with the judge's
conclusion that part of the mission of the Boy Scouts is to be anti-gay,
'' Jon Davidson, the ACLU attorney.

       Timothy Curran, the 29-year-old former Scout who sued the
Mt. Diablo Council of the Boy Scouts of America, said he was
disappointed, but vowed to pursue the case.

       ``I will not give up my fight to have the same kind of
opportunities as everyone else in this country and not be judged
differently because of whom I love,'' he said.

       In her ruling, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sally Disco
accepted the Boy Scout's position that a significant part of the goals
of the organization is to express the view that homosexuality is
immoral. She held that the organization has a right to ``get across its
preferred message in its preferred way.''

       In an earlier phase of the case, Disco ruled last November that
the Boy Scouts are a business establishment under state law and as such,
are generally subject to the state civil rights act, which prohibits
discrimination on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin,
physical disability and sexual orientation.

       Her latest decision does not alter that result, but holds that
the U.  S. Constitution prevents California from satisfying the
``compelling interest in eradicating discrimination'' because to do so,
in her view, would interfere with the Boy Scouts' ``ability to achieve
its expressive goals.''