In June 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts have a constitutional right to expressive association, based on the First Amendment. In a five to four decision, the court said that the Scouts couldn't be forced to abandon their moral code, which bars homosexual leaders and members.

Despite the ruling, the Scouts have come under attack in many parts of the nation.

· On November 28, 2000, the Los Angles City Council voted eleven to zero to evict the Scouts from public facilities.

· The Broward County Florida School Board voted unanimously to evict sixty Troops and Cub packs.

· In Dade County, Florida, Santa Barbara, California, and Minneapolis, Scouts were told to halt their recruiting drives in the schools or even to hand out literature.

· At least twenty-four United Way chapters have cut off the Scouts, as have school districts, police and fire departments, and other public entities that had sponsored Cub packs and Scout troops.

· A Sarasota, Florida charity that aids people with hiv refused to accept donations from the Scouts' annual food drive.

· Interest groups within at least four religious denominations including the United Methodists, the Episcopalians, Reform Jews and the Unitarians have passed resolutions condemning the Scouts' policy.

· The Clinton Administration in August 2000 initiated an investigation of the Scouts' ties to federal agencies. That effort, which threatened the Scouts' long-standing use of federal parklands and even the use of an Army post for the annual Scout Jamboree, was thwarted when FRC assisted the Washington Times in exposing the attempt.

· Vice President Al Gore, while voicing support for the Supreme Court decision that favored the Scouts, said he agreed only because of "the right of free association," and that he wanted someday to use the law to force the Scouts to accommodate homosexuals. He pledged to end "this kind of discrimination by groups public and private . . . the principle piece of legislation on that, incidentally, is the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which I support."

· Some corporations, including media giant Knight-Ridder, Inc. and Levi-Strauss have discontinued funding over the Scouts' moral stance.

· In October, a homosexual teachers group, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), announced a national drive to eject the Scouts from the public schools.

· Whenever the issue is brought to public attention, however, the Scouts receive solid support.

GROWING SUPPORT

· In communities such as Tempe, Arizona, Cape St. Claire, Maryland, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, citizens groups and churches have rallied behind the Scouts, offering financial assistance and opposing public policies that discriminate against the Scouts.

· When Representative Lynne Woolsey (D-Calif.) from the San Francisco area introduced a bill to strip the Scouts of their federal charter, the House of Representatives voted it down 362 to 12, with fifty-one congressmen voting "present."

· The Scouts Honor Act has been introduced in the House. This bill, sponsored by Representative Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), would prohibit the federal government or any other institution that accepts federal funds from discriminating against the Scouts on account of the Scouts' moral beliefs.

· More than fifteen groups, including the Family Research Council, the Christian Legal Society and United Methodist men filed amicus briefs supporting the Scouts in the Supreme Court case.

TALKING POINTS

· The Boy Scouts of America have been operating since 1910 with the express purpose of raising boys into men of strong character. They have defended their prerogative to keep God in the Scout oath and to require that members and leaders be "morally straight."

· Millions of boys have benefited from Scouting, and millions of families have been enriched. In the year 2000, the Scouts had 5 million youths and 1.2 million adults in the program. Parents have served as leaders and volunteers. Communities have been bettered through Scouting programs such as cleaning up parks, constructing facilities and doing other projects.

· This is about more than the Scouts' moral code. It is about the right of parents to determine who is going to be around their children.

· One of America's most pressing social problems is a lack of men who are good husbands and fathers. In a time when many boys are virtually fatherless because of family breakdown, Scouting plays a crucial part in giving boys male leadership and role models.

· At a time when youngsters are threatened by school violence, alcohol, drugs, sex, and a popular culture that beckons them to throw away their future, it is positively amazing that the Scouts are being portrayed as "the bad guys."

· Would you rather have your daughter date a man influenced by the values of the Boy Scouts of America or by Hollywood and homosexual activists?

· Most Americans think the Scouts ought to be left alone. A Wirthlin Worldwide poll released in September 1999 shows that 71 percent believe that the Scouts, not the government or the courts, should determine their own leadership standards. Another 64 percent believe that the Scouts should not be compelled to accept homosexuals as leaders.

· In a November 2000 Chicago Tribune/wgn poll, 82 percent of Chicago area residents polled supported the Scouts, against only 10 percent who wanted to force the Scouts to accommodate homosexuality.

· Nothing less than America's freedoms of association, speech, and religion are at stake. Every organization that sets its own membership and leadership standards is threatened. Like many other nonprofit groups, the Scouts use public school facilities and are often sponsored by police and fire departments. Keith Pavlischek of the Center for Public Justice notes: "For the government to dictate the hiring practices of the Boy Scouts on the basis of these contacts with the government is, in effect, to make them an appendage of the state."

· The Scouts have a moral duty to ignore orders to force them to accept homosexual scoutmasters. At the heart of Boy Scouting is the trust that parents place in Scout leaders to take their young, impressionable sons on overnight camping trips. Over the past two decades, the Scouts have had to root out hundreds of pedophiles. They cannot open their ranks to men or boys who are sexually attracted to males.

· The Scouts' battle is everyone's battle. It is about resisting the effort to turn good into evil, and evil into good. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all teach that homosexuality is wrong. If the judges are right, and society must "eradicate" such views, then religious people should expect their congregations to come under severe legal attack.

· The New Jersey Supreme Court judges issued a ruling that is unconstitutional and immoral. The New Jersey legislature should rid the state of its "sexual orientation" law, which precipitated the attack on the Scouts. Such laws are designed to crush dissent against any part of the homosexual agenda. The people of Maine figured this out and overturned their "gay rights" law by popular referendum in 1998, then defeated a heavily funded "gay rights" initiative in November 2000. There is no evidence that homosexuals are faring any worse than any other citizens in the Pine Tree State are as a result. Eleven states are still shackled with "gay rights" laws, which is one reason the Boy Scouts have spent millions of dollars in legal fees to defend their right to their own standards.

· The New Jersey Supreme Court noted that the Scouts are a "public accommodation" because they invite broad participation and benefit from public facilities such as public schools and parks. Under this definition, there is little to stop activists from going after the United Methodist Church, which sponsors a combined 11,738 Scout troops and cub packs. Surely the church invites broad participation and often uses public facilities. And they have policies that the court thinks amount to "bigotry."

· For those who oppose the Boy Scouts' morality, there is an all-American solution: They can start their own organization. Launch the Gay Scouts or the Atheist Scouts or the Transgender Scouts, but leave the Boys Scouts alone. Let the Scouts be the Scouts.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Contact the Boy Scouts of America to express support for their principled stand.

Chief Executive Scout Roy L. Williams, Boy Scouts of America, 1325 West Walnut Hill Lane, Irving, Texas 75015-2079 Phone: (972) 580-2000 http://www.bsa.scouting.org"

Contact the United Way and tell them that you will be less likely to give to the organization if its local affiliates continue to undermine the Boy Scouts.

Betty Beene, President, United Way of America, 701 North Fairfax Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314-2045 Phone: (800)-892-2757 or (703)-836-7100 Fax: (703)-836-7654 http://www.unitedway.org

Donate directly to the Scouts or to a charity such as Christian Service Charities, which handles participation in the Combined Federal Campaign and other workplace giving campaigns.

Christian Service Charities, Danielle Borta, Campaign Marketing Associate, 8001 Braddock Road-Suite 310, Springfield, Virginia 22151 Phone: (703)-764-3113 Fax: (703)-764-3375 http://www.shareamerica.org

Contact members of Congress to express concerns about the homosexual activists' attacks on the Scouts. Phone: (800)-241-7109 or (877)-778-9001 or (202)-224-3121 http://www.senate.gov http://www.house.gov http://www.congresshandbook.com"

Suggested address style for writing a letter:

The Honorable (Name) 
United States Senate 
Washington, DC 20510 
Dear Senator (Name)

The Honorable (Name) 
United States House of Representatives 
Washington, DC 20515 
Dear Representative (Name)

Robert H. Knight is senior director of the cultural studies department at the Family Research Council. He earned his Eagle Scout badge in Troop 80, Cape Elizabeth, Maine