Pro-Family Advocate Condemns Philadelphia's Treatment of Boy Scouts
by Mary Rettig
July 26, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania says tens of thousands of boys are being let down because of the City of Philadelphia's appeasement of homosexuals.
The Cradle of Liberty Boy Scout Council has been battling the City of Philadelphia for nearly three years over its policy of not allowing homosexual men to serve as scout leaders. The City Solicitor wrote the Scouts, telling them to comply with the City's non-discrimination policy or else they'd have to either start paying rent or be evicted from the Cradle of Liberty Council's headquarters, its "home" of nearly 80 years, located on city property.
The Cradle of Liberty Council is the third largest in the U.S., serving 87,000 boys in Philadelphia, Montgomery, and Delaware Counties. Some 40,000 of those served are in the city of Philadelphia; and Diane Gramley of the AFA of Pennsylvania is bristling at the idea that the City Council apparently thinks more of the homosexual lobby than it does of these young boys.
"The mayor of Philadelphia is willing to take this action that will adversely affect 40,000 boys in his own city," Gramley says, "not counting the other 47,000 in the other two surrounding counties." She calls the Philadelphia City Council's actions "just outrageous" and insists they do not reflect the attitudes of the rest of Pennsylvania or even the majority of that city's residents.
Those people, the pro-family advocate contends, are being held hostage by pro-homosexual politicians, who are now taking aim at the Boy Scouts. "People are realizing that," she notes, "and they're e-mailing the mayor expressing that outrage." Meanwhile, she adds, the citizens are also "recognizing that Philadelphia is becoming more and more 'gay' friendly."
The Boy Scouts are caught in a tug-of-war with members of the radical homosexual lobby, Gramley observes. As a result, she says, they face losing their headquarters, which they built and currently maintain, as well as the friendly terms on which they originally occupied the property with the City's permission.
"This is a facility that the Scouts built on a half-acre of property," the AFA of PA spokeswoman points out. "Back in 1928, the City Council said that the Scouts could use this property, free of charge, for however long they wanted," she says. But when the Cradle of Liberty Council chose to adhere to the Boy Scouts of America's national guidelines rather than cave in to pressure from homosexual activists to change its policy, the Scouts faced immediate repercussions from local entities.
For instance, the Pew Charitable Trusts and the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania withdrew $500,000 in grants to the Cradle of Liberty Council. Also, that is when the city law department was prompted to investigate the arrangement that had allowed the Scouts free use of both the land and the city-owned building where its headquarters are located for decades.
Now, Gramley contends, an organization that exists to help boys is being hurt by homosexual activists and their allies. She says the Cradle of Liberty Council, along with the area's citizens, is being "held hostage by pro-homosexual politicians, those targeting homosexuals for tourism and now targeting the Boy Scouts."
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
