Philadelphia has decided the local Boy Scouts chapter must pay fair-market rent of $200,000 a year for its city-owned headquarters because it does not allow gay-identified Scout leaders. The Cradle of Liberty Council, which currently pays $1 a year in rent, must pay the increased amount to remain in its downtown building past May 31, Fox News reported.
City officials say they cannot rent taxpayer-owned property for a nominal sum to a private organization that discriminates.
Jeff Jubelirer, spokesman for the council, said the higher rent money "would have to come from programs. That's 30 new Cub Scout packs, or 800 needy kids going to our summer camp. It's disappointing, and it's certainly a threat."
The Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that Scouts have a First Amendment right to bar gay-identified individuals from membership.
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said:
"Since the homosexual lobby couldn't get the courts to do their bidding for them, they are now searching for liberal city councils that will make the Boy Scouts pay dearly for their uncompromising stand for righteousness.
"The lesson here for all Americans is that any statute or ordinance labeled as a 'nondiscrimination' law will be used as a club to silence all moral opposition to homosexual behavior."
