The city plans to evict a Boy Scouts council from its city-owned headquarters or have the group pay a fair rent price unless it stops discriminating against gays. The Boy Scouts' Cradle of Liberty Council, the third-largest in the country, has been embroiled with the city for more than three years over its policy that forbids gays from being scout leaders. City Solicitor Romulo L. Diaz Jr. wrote a letter to William T. Dwyer III, president and chief executive officer of Cradle of Liberty Council, stating that the council's "discriminatory policies" violate city policy and law, and that city officials have not been assured the group will not discriminate. The letter also says that unless the city gets a "fair-market rent agreement," the council will be evicted.
The organization has made its headquarters on a half-acre property in the upscale Philadelphia Art Museum area since 1928, when City Council voted to allow the Philadelphia Boy Scouts to use the property rent-free "in perpetuity." Despite paying no rent, the scouts pay for the upkeep of the building. Council spokesman Jeff Jubelirer questioned the timing of the city's move. "With an epidemic of gun violence taking the lives of Philadelphia's children every day," Jubelirer said, "it is ironic the administration chose this time to destroy programming that services 40,000 children in the city."
[That, or maybe the Boy Scouts of America would prefer to destroy programming that services 40,000 children in the city rather than end their policy of discrimination. The BSA has every right as a private organization to admit or not admit anyone they want - and at the same time, if the BSA wants to accept federal funding they have to follow federal law. Hats off to the city of Philadelphia for this simple act of common sense and compassion.]
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