California IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Gays Protest B of A Decision on Scouts

Gay activists protesting the Bank of America’s revived support of the Boy Scouts burned checkbooks and credit cards outside a bank branch in the heavily gay Castro district. The crowd of about 100 protesters complained about Bank of America’s Aug. 18 decision to reverse a policy that withheld charitable donations from the Boy Scouts because of the organization’s refusal to allow members or leaders who profess to be gay. The bank had announced that it would not support organizations that do not allow equal access. John Woods, founder of Queer Scouts and one of the leaders of the rally, said the group posted a “demerit” badge on the doors of the bank branch “for their lack of courage, for their dishonor and their hypocrisy.”