Berkeley marina case tests Scouts' anti-gay stance

Sacramento Bee ^ | March 27, 2003 | Claire Cooper

[laureldrive]

SAN FRANCISCO -- The California Supreme Court announced Wednesday it will step into a case that's being viewed as the next major legal test of the Boy Scouts' stand against homosexuality. By a bare majority, the justices said they'll review lower court decisions that let Berkeley rescind half-century-old free-berthing privileges at the city marina to the local Sea Scouts chapter. The city acted in 1997, after the chapter refused to renounce the anti-gay position of its parent Boy Scouts.

[JCG]

Berkeley (et al) insists upon NON-discrimination in its self-allocation of taxpayer funds. That's the part where the Sea Scouts ran into a problem...

I understand. It's a clash of rights. The scouts have a court-upheld right to discriminate against homos. Berkeley believes it has the right to discriminate against the -- again, court-upheld -- right of the scouts. It will need to be settled by The SCOTUS.

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[SendShaqtoIraq]

"They're just saying they won't give charity to an agency which discriminates"

Taking a stand that something is morally wrong is not discrimination. The United States Supreme court has already ruled that the Boy Scouts have the right to take that stand. If Berkley gives free berths to other non-profits, they're going to have to give one to the scouts. Quit defending the queers.

[halfdome]

I thought that a person couldn't be fired from their job if they were gay, or refused to rent an apartment if they were gay. In other words, if gays aren't treated equally it is discrimination, according to the law. I don't know how much the law has to do with morals, as abortion is legal.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..to qualify for a fee waiver, an organization must be non-profit and must make an anti-discrimination pledge...

Come off it, Madg.

We all know who's being discriminated against, here. It's Berkeley Council, for crying out loud.

[JCG]

Ummm... it's a clash of "POLICIES," not necessarily "rights."

Wrong. The SCOTUS validated a right that the BSA possesses, namely, the right to discriminate against homosexuals. Berkeley's "right" -- if there is one -- remains to be validated.

Your agenda notwithstanding, if you can't tell difference between rights and policies, you have no business trying to debate here on FR.

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[Kevin Curry]

[O]ther nonprofits aren't charged this fee; the sea scouts ARE charged the fee . . .

The remedy is simple, then: require ALL nonprofits to pay.

But madg cannot view the issue squarely and fairly. It doesn't fit his pro-sodomy worldview.

[jimt]

One of the other things not often noted in this controversy is that the Scouts provided some 80,000 tons of rocks to help originally construct the marina, and that's when they were given the free berthing.

Of course it was necessary to renege on the deal once it became necessary for the Berkeley City Council to force acceptance of homosexuality.

[Kevin Curry]

They are now “just another” private exclusive group, similar to the KKK

And madg's mask slips showing the sneering marxist beneath.

[Kevin Curry]

I think it’s sad and I think they made a mistake. The BSA is a fine organization

Spare us the phony condescending sanctimony. You have a singularly foul agenda, and that is to destroy this "fine organization" as it exists.

[JCG]

What’s your point? You think that SCOTUS ruling entitles the BSA to freebies at taxpayer expense?

As I mentioned it is a clash of rights; validated and presumed. The BSA is entitled to the "freebies" if other similar organizations are getting them. Otherwise, they are being discriminated against.

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[Kevin Curry]

The BSA is entitled to the "freebies" if other similar organizations are getting them. Otherwise, they are being discriminated against.

Especially if BSA-donated labor and organizational skills helped to create the marina in the first place. The other nonprofits are the true freeloaders in that case.

But I suspect madg is all for freeloading. It is the fact that some nonprofit organizations refuse to embrace and celebrate homosexuality that bothers him.

[Kevin Curry]

If they want to go the extra step and get the PRIVILEGE of a fee waiver, they have to satisfy the SAME requirements as the others.

i.e., they have to embrace and celebrate homosexuality among their membership including their leaders.

Spit it out, son. Quit playing Clinton word-games.

[laureldrive]

I'm curious. What's your political philosophy? Are you a liberal who believes in government power? You seem to think that government should be able to use its leverage to punish private groups that it doesn't agree with.

[JCG]

They are entitled to equal ACCESS. They’ve already got that (their ship is docked in the marina). If they want to go the extra step and get the PRIVILEGE of a fee waiver, they have to satisfy the SAME requirements as the others.

Totally wrong (again). The BSA is entitled to everything any other non-profit gets -- not just "access." To do otherwise is to discriminate against the BSA.

America's Fifth Column ... watch Steve Emerson/PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
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Who is Steve Emerson?

[JCG]

It is the fact that some nonprofit organizations refuse to embrace and celebrate homosexuality that bothers him.

Yes, his position seems more agenda-driven than anything.

America's Fifth Column ... watch Steve Emerson/PBS documentary JIHAD! In America
Download 8Mb File Here (Requires RealPlayer)

Who is Steve Emerson?