United Way Charity Suspends Scout Grants Over Gays

Whole article below--still not adept at pasting links!

Top Stories - Reuters

United Way Charity Suspends Scout Grants Over Gays
Fri Aug 1, 1:50 PM ET

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - A Philadelphia-based United Way charity suspended funding to the nation's third-largest Boy Scout council after the group capitulated to a national Scout ban against homosexuals, officials said on Friday.

The United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania canceled the second half of an annual $400,862 grant to the Boy Scouts' Cradle of Liberty Council, saying the Scout group did not comply with the charity's policy of not discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.

The grant represents over 6 percent of the council's budget.

In June 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) ruled that the Boy Scouts of America could bar homosexuals as troop leaders. The Boy Scouts of America National Council claimed the ruling as a victory, saying "an avowed homosexual" was not a proper role model for youth.

The Cradle of Liberty Council, which serves 87,000 youths in Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs, defied national leaders in May by adopting its own nondiscrimination policy toward gays.

But the group later rescinded the policy and agreed to oust an openly gay scout after the Irving, Texas-based national council threatened to revoke its charter.

The United Way, which also suspended a grant to a smaller suburban Boy Scout group near Philadelphia this week, said the money would be reinstated in both cases if the Scout councils complied with its nondiscrimination policy.

Local and national Boy Scouts officials were not immediately available for comment. But the charity's move was not the only headache confronting Scout leaders in Philadelphia.

The Boy Scouts' ban on gays has already prompted the Pew Charitable Trusts to suspend a $100,000 grant to the Cradle of Liberty Council.

The Philadelphia Inquirer also reported that the City of Philadelphia was looking into whether the Boy Scouts should continue to use city-owned property as their headquarters.

out they were cutting out area charities that were pro-choice...

I remember shocking people when I told them my thoughts on the United Way, which weren't pretty....I thought at the time that being pressured to give at work was a real invasion of my privacy.....UGH

At least now they seem to have figured it out correctly on the gay issue. I wonder if the choice policy still stands....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=46634&mesg_id=46634


I am locking this one.


NYer99
DU Moderator