Laguna to Keep Explorer Scouts Despite Gay Ban

After hours of anguished debate, the City Council agreed Tuesday to keep its popular 22-year-old Police Explorer program intact, but expressed deep reservations about the group’s affiliation with the Boy Scouts of America, which continues to ban gays.

The council voted unanimously to establish a task force to lobby the Boy Scouts and urge a change in its position about homosexuals. In addition, council members agreed to explore the idea of setting up a Police Explorer-type program of its own.

“The dilemma is the city of Laguna sponsors a program that is not available to every resident,” said Councilman Robert F. Gentry.

Some council members said that although they strongly support the Explorer program--aimed at people between 14 and 21 who are interested in law enforcement careers--they were uncomfortable with the Boy Scouts’ long-held ban on gays as members or leaders.

At Tuesday’s meeting, packed with gay community leaders, members and parents of Explorers, and others, most criticized the anti-gay policy of Boy Scouts of America, which sponsors the program. But the crowd was divided over how best to change that position. Some gay residents wanted the city to sever its ties with the Explorers, but other residents urged that the program be allowed to continue while the community tried to sway the Scouts.

“The program saved my at-risk son and turned his life around,” said Barbara Norton. “It’s critical that we keep this program intact as it is.”

But Dennis Amick, Gentry’s companion, said, “We cannot tolerate prejudice whether we’re gay or straight. What you’re asking us is to sit around and watch them make the first move.”

The dispute between the city and Boy Scouts of America erupted in September when Police Chief Neil J. Purcell Jr. told the organization that the city--which has a large gay population and an ordinance prohibiting discrimination against gays--would not ignore its own law.

Purcell’s decision followed similar actions by both the El Cajon and San Diego police departments, who severed ties with the Boy Scouts in 1992 after the Scouts removed a gay El Cajon police officer from the position as Scout leader.

After Purcell’s announcement, the Boy Scouts said it would revoke the city’s charter if it learned that a gay person was participating as a member or an adviser. But until last month, the Police Explorer program continued without incident.

The 11 Explorer Scouts in Laguna Beach help officers in non-hazardous jobs such as crime scene searches, directing traffic and searches for lost children. Some previous Scouts have gone on to become officers.

Purcell called it “a fantastic opportunity for the young people” and a cost savings for the city.

At a City Council meeting in March, however, Gentry, who is both gay and a former Boy Scout, asked that the matter be reconsidered.

On Tuesday night, Gentry called for a six-month deadline for the Scouts to change their policy. But other council members, including Councilman Wayne L. Peterson, who also is gay, wouldn’t support the deadline, saying the process may take longer.

Kent W. Gibbs, president of the Scouts’ Orange County Council, said before Tuesday’s meeting that the group does not try to find out if someone is homosexual.

“We don’t have any litmus test for homosexuals or anything like that,” Gibbs said. “It appears as though this whole thing is someone’s political agenda.”

Although Chief Purcell initiated the debate, he later recommended that the city keep the Explorer Scout program because he considered it important to local youth.

This is not the first challenge to the Boy Scouts’ policy on gays.

Last month, the 2nd District of the Court of Appeal concluded that the Boy Scouts of America may bar gay men from becoming Scout leaders. The court ruled that a state law prohibiting job discrimination against gays does not apply to the Boy Scouts because it is not a business, and said forcing the group to allow openly gay leaders would violate the group’s First Amendment rights of association.

National leaders of the Boy Scouts of America praised the decision and said they had been supported time and time again by parents who do not believe that gay Scout leaders should serve as role models for their children.