Letters: Scouting has rules, so do we

Re “Don’t single out the Scouts,” Editorial, April 12

The Boy Scouts of America is a terrific organization, but it must follow the rules. If it wants to restrict membership based on sexual orientation, that’s fine. But if it chooses to restrict membership to include only heterosexuals, it should lose its tax-free status as a nonprofit and give up the benefits associated with such an organization.

Most Boy Scouts such as myself started out as Cub Scouts. In Cub Scouts we were taught, “Be square and obey the law of the pack.” But these days, the Boys Scouts doesn’t seem to want to “obey the law of the pack.”

If it is allowed to operate this way, then other organizations should be given the same benefits, including access to all the public land used by the Scouts.

Rob Macfarlane

Costa Mesa

Thank you for your editorial opposing legislation in California to deprive the Boy Scouts of America of its tax-exempt status. It is long past due for an important newspaper to say no to the ideological totalitarians who dominate the Legislature.

Harvey B. Schechter

Beverly Hills

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