Use of state money for Boy Scouts comes under fire
By
Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau - Published: March 16, 2010
MONTPELIER – Gay rights organizations are opposing a $7,500 appropriation to the Boy Scouts in Gov. James Douglas' fiscal year 2011 budget proposal.
The appropriation isn't new. Since at least 2003, Douglas has proposed, and the Legislature has approved, annual expenditures for the Vermont chapter of the Boy Scouts of America. Until fiscal year 2009, the amount was $15,000. Beginning in fiscal year 2010, the amount was cut in half to $7,500.
But gay rights advocates say the organization's "discriminatory" policies – it prohibits gay and lesbian adults from volunteering as troop leaders – should prevent the group from receiving any taxpayer money.
"To have state taxpayer money support an organization with anti-gay policies is deeply disturbing, particularly at a time when we're seeing so many funding cuts to our most vulnerable residents," says Kara DeLeonardis, executive director of RU12.
Officials at Outright Vermont, a Burlington-based organization that works to support gay and lesbian youth, issued a statement criticizing the appropriation.
"We are disappointed to learn that state funding is being appropriated to the Boy Scouts, an organization that refuses to recognize the legitimacy of all families," officials at the organization said. "Outright believes that all youth need positive role models and encourages lawmakers not to permit discrimination, and to consider the diversity of all Vermont families in future policy decisions."
Rick Stockton, head of the Green Mountain Council – the governing body of the Vermont Boy Scouts – says the money is used not for operating expenses or salaries but for an annual Veterans Day parade hosted by the Boy Scouts.
Last year's parade drew thousands of people to downtown Barre. This year's event will be held in St. Albans.
"If it wasn't for the money in the governor's budget, we wouldn't be able to host the parade," Stockton says.
The Vermont chapter of Boy Scouts of America, which has a membership of 5,364 scouts, allows children to join the group regardless of sexual orientation.
"Any male in the state of Vermont in first grade through age 21 is invited to join the program," Stockton says, noting that girls 14 and over also can join. "At no time do we ask about, nor do we do anything to investigate, one's sexual orientation."
However the organization's policy prohibits openly gay or lesbian adults from volunteering for the group. There are 2,200 registered adult volunteers statewide.
"The Boy Scouts of America has made a decision on what it takes to become a leader," Stockton says.
The appropriation is particularly concerning, DeLeonardis says, given Vermont's role as a leader in the gay-rights movement. The state Legislature last year became the first in the nation to approve a same-sex marriage law.
The Boy Scout's policies came under fire locally recently when a gay couple from East Montpelier was turned down as Cub Scout leaders because of their sexual orientation. The incident prompted U.S. Rep. Peter Welch and 25 of his congressional colleagues to call on the Boy Scouts of America to reverse what they called a discriminatory policy against homosexuals.
"These are parents and children and people who want to be involved in doing community service and contributing positively to the community and they're not being allowed to," DeLeonardis says.
The United States Supreme Court, in a 5-4 ruling in 2000, declared the Boy Scouts of America can bar homosexuals from being troop leaders.
Asked about the appropriation last week, some lawmakers said they were uncomfortable with the idea of providing direct funding to the Boy Scouts.
"I personally do not believe we should use taxpayer dollars to support organizations that aren't inclusive of all of Vermont's citizens," said Senate President Peter Shumlin, who spearheaded passage of the same-sex marriage law.
Others however said they were reluctant to pull funding from a worthwhile organization based on the policies of its governing body. Rep. Bill Lippert, a Hinesburg Democrat, is an openly gay legislator who also helped shepherd through the landmark same-sex marriage legislation. He is also an Eagle Scout who counts his experience in the Boy Scouts as a positive one.
Though he opposes the "discriminatory policy" on troop leaders, Lippert said, he doesn't want to target a group that he considers an otherwise "positive force in life development.
"I don't think we should necessarily at this point paint a target on Boy Scouts in Vermont because of a national policy," Lippert said.
David Coriell, spokesman for the governor, said the administration sees value in both the Veterans Day parade and the organization that puts it on.
"To the more philosophical argument of what state organizations receive state funding, it's not a practice of the administration to evaluate and comment on every organization's policies when deciding on where funds should go," Coriell said. "… This is really about supporting the Boy Scouts and their efforts as far as the parade."
Robert Appel, executive director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission, said he's surprised the state would fund a private organization that, were it a public group, would be in violation of Vermont law.
"Personally I would see it as problematic given that this state has had protections against sexual-orientation discrimination on its law books since 1992," said Appel, noting that he was speaking personally, and not on behalf of the Commission.
Allen Gilbert, executive director of the Vermont-ACLU said he finds it hard to believe that "legislators over the years have helped fund an organization that discriminates against people who would otherwise be protected by state law."
Stockton says his organization works hard to improve and enrich the lives of young people in the state. And the parade, he says, is an important way to pay tribute to the thousands of veterans living in Vermont.
"All we're doing is the best we can for families who choose to join scouting," he says. "We're not a political organization and we don't want to be."
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