Boy Scouts Face Battle Over Gay Rights

June 20 -- When the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the Boy Scouts of America to continue its exclusion of gays a year ago this month, the landmark ruling might have been a hands-down victory for the venerable youth organization.

The past year has been anything but a time for unity among the troops, however. Instead, the Scouts have found themselves squarely at the center of an American culture war over gay rights — and in some cases, the battle cry against excluding gays is being heard from within.

Just this month, leaders from nine of the largest Scout councils including New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles have asked the national organization to open up its policy, which prohibits gays from being members or troop leaders.

Opposition is coming from outside the Scouts' ranks as well. On Tuesday, the American Medical Association voted to urge the Boy Scouts to reconsider the policy because it could cause psychological trauma in young people.

Schools from Broward County, Fla., to Eugene, Ore., have taken steps to prevent Scouts from meeting on their property since the high court ruling, citing policies that prohibit discrimination. After the New York City schools cut ties to the Boy Scouts, membership dropped by half in the city to 26,000 in 2000.

In Oak Park, Ill., several Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs lost their charters after parent-teacher organization sponsors followed their school's anti-discrimination policy and permitted gays.

Seven found new sponsors and an eighth is reorganizing under Camp Fire USA, a program that accepts gays.

Has the Roof Fallen In?

Meanwhile, dozens of United Way chapters are pulling the plug on donations to their local Scout troops. In Santa Barbara, where the United Way won't fund the Scouts for the first time in 70 years, the move cost the group $56,000 in grant money. In Palm Beach, local troops will lose $120,000 in annual United Way funds.

The Scouts also lost a high-profile supporter in recent months when film director and Eagle Scout Steven Spielberg announced he had declined another term on the group's honorary advisory board, calling the anti-gay policy "a real shame."