By Peter Sorkin
The Boy Scouts of America should not be allowed to recruit New York City public school children because of the youth organization's avowed anti-gay position, the co-chairman of the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee said.
Daniel Dromm, along with co-chair Maritza Martinez and legal counsel John Moran filed an official complaint against the city Board of Education this week, claiming the board was in violation of its own non-discrimination policy on sexual orientation.
“We believe you have a moral duty as well as a legal mandate to ensure that all of New York City's school children receive an education free from prejudice and discrimination,” they said in a letter to Schools Chancellor Harold Levy.
Dromm said Board of Education President William Thompson and Levy were acting illegally by not removing the Boy Scouts from the schools because the board has had a policy since 1972 prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.
“This actually now is a legal complaint against the Board of Ed,” he said. “They have to investigate this internally through their Office of Equal Opportunity.”
The Board of Ed could not be reached for comment on the complaint.
The Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee first contacted the Board of Ed after the New Jersey State Supreme Court ruled in favor of James Dale, a former Eagle Scout whose adult membership in the Boy Scouts was revoked when the Boy Scouts learned that he was a homosexual and gay rights activist.
On June 28, 1999, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that decision and ruled that the Boy Scouts, which contend homosexual conduct is inconsistent with their values, is a private, not-for-profit organization that should be allowed to assert its First Amendment rights.
In the letter sent to Harold Levy, Dromm and Martinez said the Boy Scouts have no intention of changing their position or allowing a local chapter to violate their “hard-fought victory against gays.”
“Anything less than removing them from the NYC public schools would be tantamount to saying that you agree with their discriminatory actions against troop leaders on the basis of their sexual orientation,” the two activists wrote. “That's a lesson no child should ever learn.”
Using assembly programs and tutorials, and buoyed by a $300,000 contract, the Boy Scouts recruit students in almost every public school, said Dromm.
“We believe that by not forbidding the Boy Scouts from using NYC public schools for meeting space free of charge, that by allowing the Boy Scouts to recruit members in the public schools and that by sending students from a dozen or so public schools to Boy Scout camps, you are in violation of the board's own non-discrimination policy regarding sexual orientation,” the letter said.
Dromm said the Boy Scouts have the right to discriminate.
“But why would an organization like the Board of Ed want to have anything to do with this type of organization?” he asked. “The chancellor has a legal and moral obligation to ensure the New York City school children get an education free from discrimination.”
