GAY ACTIVISTS WANT CITY TO ABANDON SCOUTS.Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer Gay rights activists and others Thursday called on the city of Los Angeles
The Explorer program was the United States's first successful attempt to launch an artificial satellite. with the Boy Scouts of America Noun 1. Boy Scouts of America - a corporation that operates through a national council that charters local councils all over the United States; the purpose is character building and citizenship training . Two months after an American Civil Liberties Union American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. lawsuit forced the city of Chicago to end its charter role for city Explorer posts, similar pressures are mounting here. Tom Coleman, an attorney and gay rights leader, said he began contacting City Council members Thursday to ask them to consider ending the city's charter partnership with the Boy Scouts. The objections Coleman and attorneys for the ACLU ACLU: see American Civil Liberties Union. and gay rights group Lambda is that the Boy Scouts of America is a religious-based group that they believe has discriminated against gays and atheists by prohibiting them from participating. ``Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. has an ordinance that prohibits discrimination by city contractors,'' Coleman said. ``The City Council has to decide whether to sanction this kind of discrimination officially.'' Taylor Flynn, an attorney with the ACLU of Southern California, said it is ``inevitable'' that the LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. will have to sever its ties to the Boy Scouts. ``I hope we can do it and avoid litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. by talking to City Council members,'' Flynn said. Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who is gay, said she plans to ask the City Attorney's Office to determine whether the charter partnership with the Boy Scouts is proper. ``I think we may have a real problem here, and I am going to look into it,'' Goldberg said. Flynn said although the California state Supreme Court ruled March 23 that the Boy Scouts of America is a social organization, not a business, and is allowed broad authority to prohibit atheists and gays from participating in its programs, the city is still legally prohibited from discriminating. Joey Robinson, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Council of Boy Scouts of America, said he would be ``very disappointed'' if there were a legal challenge to the LAPD Explorer program. ``We are following the law. The state Supreme Court unanimously found that we were not in violation of the (discrimination) law.'' Robinson said the setup of the LAPD program gives it independence that may protect it from legal challenge. ``They are charter partners with us,'' Robinson said of the LAPD. ``They have (Explorer) posts, but it's kind of like having a McDonald's franchise.'' Capt. Stuart Maislin, who heads the Los Angeles Police Department's Juvenile Group, also believes the independent setup in Los Angeles will protect the program from legal challenge. ``It's a nonissue non·is·sue n. A matter of so little import that it ought not to become a focus of controversy and comment: She felt that the matter of her attire should have been a nonissue. for us because we don't discriminate,'' he said. Maislin said the LAPD Explorer posts enjoy insurance coverage from the Boy Scouts of America but have their own guidebook and do not require scouts to take the controversial Explorer oath, which includes declaring, ``I believe that America's strength lies in our trust in God. . . . I will, therefore, be faithful in my religious duties.'' Rosa Rivas, the mother of three former LAPD Explorers, defended the program as one that instills important values in young people. ``It does so much good,'' she said. |
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