Scout council accepts United Way discrimination policy

The Central New Jersey Council gets donation after pledging to abide to policy on gays.

By: Jennifer Potash
   An area Boy Scouts Council accepted an $81,000 donation from the United Way of Central Jersey and will abide by the charity organization’s policy prohibiting discrimination against gays.
   The Central New Jersey Council of Boy Scouts of America, which represents over 15,000 scouts in Mercer, Middlesex, Hunterdon and Warren counties and parts of Somerset and Monmouth counties, will receive $81,350 from the United Way of Central Jersey — the same amount the Scouts received last year, said Vito Toto, director of marketing and communications for the United Way of Central Jersey.
   Representatives from the United Way met with officials from the Central New Jersey Council and were satisfied the organization does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, Mr. Toto said.
   Complying with the nondiscrimination clause is not a problem for the Boy Scouts, according to Ron Green, executive director of the Central New Jersey Council of Boy Scouts of America.
   "Our position is the Boy Scouts of America does not discriminate based on sexual orientation and the bottom line is Scouting makes no effort whatsoever to determine the sexual orientation of any current or prospective Scouts or leaders," said Mr. Green during an interview last year.
   Mr. Green was unavailable for comment Friday.
   For the Scouting program to be successful and produce boys and young men who are good citizens, it cannot be changed, Mr. Green has said.
   "If you want to be in Scouting, follow the program," he said. "If you do not want to follow the program or if you alter it, whether intentionally or not, we can’t allow that because it weakens the outcome, weakens the program and it changes it literally. We don’t deal with political agendas or any of that stuff. We stick to a basic program of character development that works."
   A June 2000 decision by the U. S. Supreme Court allows the Boy Scouts of America to bar homosexuals from serving as troop leaders.
   Last year, Boy Scout Troop 43 of Princeton asked the Borough Council to place bags over two parking meters on Chambers Street so customers could buy their Christmas trees without having to feed the meters. The Scouts sell the trees annually in the Princeton area as a fund-raiser.
   In November, then-Borough Councilman Ryan Stark Lilienthal moved that the council grant permission with the condition that the troop send the council a letter promising it would not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation against the youth or adult members of the troop. The motion was approved by a 2-1 vote.
   Troop 43 said it could not meet the council’s condition and went ahead with the sale, without the meter bags.
   The United Way of Greater Mercer County, which has contributed money to the Central New Jersey Council of Boy Scouts of America, sent out a questionnaire last year to its 5,500 contributors asking if the organization should revise its nondiscrimination policy and nondiscrimination requirements for grant recipients.
   Craig Lafferty, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Mercer County, could not be reached for comment Friday.