LA to Cut Scout Ties Over Discrimination

L O S  A N G E L E S, Nov. 29 -- The Los Angeles City Council voted 11 to 0 to cut the city’s ties with the Boy Scouts of America, saying the group’s exclusion of homosexuals and atheists was discriminatory.

Tuesday’s vote followed similar moves by municipalities, policedepartments and groups across the country to show displeasure ata Supreme Court decision last June that upheld the Boy Scoutsright to exclude homosexuals. The court, by a 5 to 4 vote, saidthe Scouts had the right to set its own moral code and espouseits own viewpoint.

But City Council members said Los Angeles law preventsrelationships with organizations that discriminate. “We don’thave a choice legally. Both the spirit and the content ofexisting city law is very clear: the city shouldn’t participatein a discriminatory practice or policy,” Councilman Mike Feuersaid.

He added: “Nobody, including the Boy Scouts ... hasarticulated what the difference is between discriminating on thebasis of race, on the one hand, which they would agree oughtnever happen, and discriminating on the basis of sexualorientation.”

A Boy Scouts spokesman declined to comment on the voteTuesday. “It came so quick we’re just looking at our options asto just exactly what we are facing here,” Boy Scouts spokesmanJoey Robinson said.

LAPD to Drop ‘Explorers’

Under terms of the measure, the Los Angeles Police Departmentwill be asked to dismantle its Explorers unit, a BoyScouts-affiliated police cadet training program for young people,within 90 days, and create an alternative, said Laura Esquivel,assistant to Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, a gay rights activistwho heads the city’s personnel committee and was a major backerof the measure.

All other city departments will be audited to determinewhether other contractual relationships exist with Boy Scoutsaffiliates, and all city contracts will be examined to ensurethey contain non-discriminatory clauses, and are in compliancewith city code, Esquivel said.