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United Way penalizes Boy Scouts� gay rule By DAMIAN MANN At odds over a discrimination policy against homosexuals, the United Way of Jackson County decided Wednesday to progressively cut funding to one of its original founders, the local chapter of the Boy Scouts. The United Way will reduce its contribution 15 percent this year and will continue to do so every year unless a solution can be found over the Boy Scouts� refusal to sign a policy that it won�t discriminate based on sexual orientation. This July, the Crater Lake Council of the Boy Scouts of America will see its United Way funding drop from $40,962 to $34,818. Even with this reduction, the Scouts will remain the sixth highest-funded organization of the United Way. The board will continue to review the funding decision annually, hoping that the Boy Scouts of America will ultimately soften its stance on discrimination against homosexuals. "United Way cares deeply about our community�s youth and our nondiscrimination policy," said board President Jon Mitchell. "Unfortunately, the Scout policy is in direct conflict with the United Way of Jackson County�s policy." Mitchell said the board�s decision was a compromise that allows continued funding of the Scouts while supporting the anti-discrimination policies of the United Way. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year determined the Boy Scouts of America has the right to bar homosexuals from serving in leadership positions. Since then, as many as 50 of the 1,370 United Ways across the country have denied some or all funding to Boy Scouts chapters. During the past seven months, both local organizations have wrestled with this issue, attempting to reach a compromise that would avoid a funding cut. The 15-percent reduction is the outgrowth of this compromise effort. The United Way will continue to honor donations that are specifically earmarked for a particular organization, including the Boy Scouts. "It�s going to resolve itself in the long term," said Ed Roussell, Scouts development director. However, he believes the Scouts� stance corresponds to the wishes of most parents who send their children to his organization. "I don�t think the community wants us to be on the cutting edge of social change," he said. The Scouts receive 14 percent of their $740,000 in revenues from United Ways, with the Jackson County chapter offering the largest percentage. Roussell said 10 other United Ways in southern and eastern Oregon and northern California have decided to continue the same funding for his organization, which serves 6,600 children in those areas. "This is really a non-issue," said Roussell. His organization doesn�t ask any leaders if they are homosexual, he said. But if someone who was an avowed homosexual asked to join the Boy Scouts, Russell said, "We�d say, �sorry, no�." Even so, children of homosexual parents are welcome into the Scouts, he said. Recently, two local gay women asked the Scouts if they could bring their children to the organization, he said. "They said they hoped it would not be a problem that they were gay. We said, �Sure, it�s OK." However, the Scouts would not allow these women to become leaders, said Roussell. The Scouts organization has no process to determine whether someone applying for a leadership position is homosexual. "We do not have any test," said Roussell. "We do not ask anyone if they are homosexual." The Boy Scouts, which has 2,400 members in Jackson County, told the United Way last November that it would not sign the United Way�s non-discrimination policy, which was first introduced in 1977 and amended in 1998 to include sexual orientation. The Scouts had been signing the policy until the Supreme Court decision. Roussell said that when the United Way was first created in Jackson County, the Scouts were one of its founders. Julie Simpson, executive director of the United Way of Josephine County, said her organization doesn�t have a non-discrimination policy as part of its contract with outside agencies. "We only have an internal policy with our staff and board," she said. Simpson�s board of directors discussed the funding issue, but "they voted early on to support the Scouts," she said. Simpson has found wide-ranging feelings about this question. "People come down on both sides of the fence on this issue." Mitchell said, "Communities across America served by United Way and the Boy Scouts have struggled with this issue. Our decision is unique because of the compromise nature upon which it was based." Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.