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Boy Scouts' grant requests turned down Carpenter Foundation, OCF cite Scouts' anti-gay policies By JONEL ALECCIA Amid controversy over cuts in local United Way funding for Boy Scouts, two prominent area foundations have declined to grant the youth agency a total of $42,000 in requests, citing policies against homosexual discrimination. The Carpenter Foundation of Medford and the Oregon Community Foundation of Portland turned down recent requests from the Crater Lake Council of the Boy Scouts of America, development director Ed Roussell said Tuesday. "They said 'No,' but they also mentioned specific non-discrimination policies," said Roussell, who had requested $24,000 from the Carpenter Foundation and $18,000 from the OCF for development efforts. In their rejections, the foundations said their policies prohibit funding organizations that discriminate on any basis, including sexual orientation, Roussell said. Those mandates conflict with a national Boy Scouts of America policy, upheld last year by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, that bars avowed homosexuals from leadership positions. Greg Chaille, president of the Oregon Community Foundation, said Tuesday that a 1992 policy prohibits any of the agency's $2 million in discretionary funds from going to organizations "known to have discriminatory policies." "The OCF seeks to build an inclusive community," Chaille said, quoting written policy of the agency that awards some $26 million in grants and scholarships annually. Jane Carpenter, president of the Medford foundation that grants more than $800,000 annually, said the group does not discuss funding decisions outside of private board meetings. She indicated, however, that the foundation has a non-discrimination policy, but that it's not the sole reason an agency might have been declined. "I can tell you we had more than twice as many applications as we had funds to fund them," she said. "It was a deluge, literally." Since October, Roussell has applied to nine regional foundations for grant funds. Like most nonprofit organizations, the agency is guaranteed no grants, he noted. So far, however, he has received $36,000 from the Cheney Foundation of Portland. Controversy erupted in March when the United Way of Jackson County voted to progressively diminish funding to the local Boy Scouts chapter for its refusal to sign a policy that it won't discriminate based on sexual orientation. The local United Way decided to cut the Scouts' funding by 15 percent this year and every year until a solution to the dilemma is found. The move will trim a little more than $6,000 from the Boy Scouts' $740,000 in annual revenues this year, Roussell said. Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.