Subject: PFLAG News Release: PFLAG Presses BSA to End Discrimination
From: heather wright <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1999 15:44:27 -0400

*    *    *    PFLAG News Release    *    *    *

August 10, 1999								
Contact: Eric Ferrero 202-638-4200 x212

Family Group Presses Boy Scouts of America to Follow
New England Camp's Lead and End Discrimination

	Boy Scouts of America today said a gay youth who will get his job back at 
a Hopinkton, RI, Boy Scout camp is still not welcome in the national group. 
 This comes just a day after the Narragansett Council of the Boy Scouts of 
America had settled a dispute with the family, calling the gay Scout an 
"honorable young man."

	The popular 16-year-old worked full-time in June at Camp Yawgood, one of 
New England's premier summer Scout camps.  Last week, the camp director 
asked the youth if he was gay.  When he answered affirmatively, he was 
fired, although camp officials deny his sexual orientation was a factor. 
 This week, the youth's family threatened to pursue legal action.  More 
than 90 fellow staff members staged a sit-in to protest the youth's firing, 
temporarily closing the camp for the first time in 84 years.  Yesterday, 
the camp offered the youth his job back.  But today's statements from Boy 
Scouts of America leave the youth's future in question.

	"This is unconscionable," said Kirsten Kingdon, Executive Director of 
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).  "The Boy Scout 
camp was wrong to ask this fine young man if he is gay, regardless of how 
or why they asked.  The community - the people who knew him best - 
eventually did the right thing.  But Boy Scouts of America remains mired in 
discrimination.  An organization dedicated to fostering moral leadership 
should be ashamed of itself for shunning this young man - and so many 
others like him - based solely on his sexual orientation, rather than 
celebrating his strong character and achievements."

	Many PFLAG chapters - located in more than 425 communities nationwide - 
actively work to eliminate Boy Scouts of America's unfair policy of barring 
openly gay members or leaders.  PFLAG families persuade their local 
governments to withhold public funding of Boy Scouts, educate their 
communities about Boy Scouts' discriminatory practices and circulate 
petitions calling for an end to Boy Scouts of America's policy.

	"We will not stop until fairness prevails," said Kingdon, whose two sons - 
one gay and one straight - were Scouts.  "We will not stop supporting these 
kids and their families.  We will not stop educating our communities about 
this injustice.  We will not stop advocating against public funding of 
discrimination.  We will not stand by while Boy Scouts of America's 
anti-gay policies hurt young people and their families."

NOTE:  PFLAG filed an amicus brief in the case upheld last week by the New 
Jersey Supreme Court, outlawing the Scouts' ban on gays in that state.

			#   #   #
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) promotes the
health and well-being of gay, lesbian and bisexual persons, their families
& friends through support, education, and advocacy. Serving nearly 77,000
members & supporters, PFLAG affiliates are located in 425+ communities in
the U.S.

1101 14th St. NW, Suite 1030, Washington, DC 20005 .
phone: 202-638-4200  fax: 202-638-0243
Email [email-masked]  Web http://www.pflag.org

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