Supervisors Back Scouts in Suit by Gay Ex-Member

Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday voted to support the Boy Scouts in fighting a lawsuit brought by a former scout who was excluded from the organization because he is gay.

By a 3-2 vote, the board approved a resolution sponsored by Supervisor Mike Antonovich expressing support for the Scouts’ “freedom to choose their own leaders.”

The action was attacked by a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the scout, as an endorsement of discrimination.

Jon Davidson, senior staff counsel of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, also noted that the case is awaiting a decision by a Superior Court judge.

“The action of the board, while this issue is under submission, has the unseemly appearance of attempting to put political pressure on the deliberative process of the Superior Court,” Davidson said.

Timothy Curran, who attained the rank of Eagle Scout, filed suit against the Scouts’ Mt. Diablo Council in Walnut Creek after being told he could not continue in scouting.

Curran, 29, a free-lance writer, was a student at UCLA when he filed the suit 10 years ago.

The case, which is the first of its kind in the 4.3-million-member Boy Scouts of America, could have profound implications for every troop in the United States. If successful, it would not only be seen as a significant victory for the gay rights movement, but could change the way courts apply civil rights law to private, nonprofit organizations.

“This is a test case,” Antonovich said. “If they lose, that means they don’t have the authority to select who they feel are proper leaders.”

Supervisors Deane Dana and Kenneth Hahn voted with Antonovich. Opposed were Supervisors Ed Edelman and Pete Schabarum.

“We seem to be on the side of supporting discrimination,” Edelman said.

Dana, an Eagle Scout who is a board member of the Scouts’ Los Angeles Council, said the Scouts are a private organization.

“It should have a right to select its own leaders,” he said.

The ACLU has argued that the Boy Scouts are a business and, as such, are covered by the state Civil Rights Act.

Davidson pointed out that the Mt. Diablo Council has 22 full-time paid employees, revenues of more than $1 million a year, public relations activities and extensive advertising for new members.

The Scouts have countered that they are a private organization and, under the state Constitution can choose their own leaders.

“The bottom line is that we do not feel that homosexuality is consistent with the traditional American family values that scouting teaches,” said Lee Sneath, national spokesman for the Irving, Tex.-based Boy Scouts of America. “And we do not consider homosexuals appropriate role models for boys.

“Scouting is a privilege,” Sneath said. “It is not a right.”

The board, however, rejected a request by Antonovich to offer legal aid to the Scouts.

“We got enough problems of our own,” Dana said.