Published during the week prior to June 5, 1992 in San Jose Mercury News:
 
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             San Mateo Scouts defy United Way, seek funds
                             by Lori Aratani
                  San Jose Mercury News Staff Writer
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   The San Mateo Boy Scout Council has asked the public to help make up
the thousands of dollars it will lose when the United Way of the Bay
Area cuts funding because of the Scouts' refusal to admit gays.
 
   While he declines to say exactly how much the appeal letter has
raised, Scout executive Tim Gorman said he's pleased with the progress
of the 2-week- old campaign.  But he said he still worries that the
council may not be able to make up the $160,000 shortfall.
 
  The San Mateo group is one of five that will lose more than $1 million
after June 1992.  In addition, Boy Scout councils in Alameda, Contra
Costa, Marin and San Francisco counties will not receive United Way
funds.
 
   In Santa Clara County, the two Scout councils that oversee local
troops still will receive the funds because their money comes from a
different United Way organization.
 
   United Ways are local, independently run organizations that try to
represent the mores of their communities, said John Stafford, spokesman
for the United Way of the Bay Area.
 
   United Way donations make up about 20 percent of the San Mateo County
Boy Scout Council's $800,000 budget, according to Gorman.  He said he is
unaware of any other organization that has followed the United Way's
lead and withdrawn its support.
 
   Two weeks ago, Gorman said, he mailed a letter to all registered
voters in San Mateo County asking for donations to the council.  Vowing
not to "start a bitter fight against the United Way." the letter urges
recipients "to start now to contribute directly to us, instead of
channeling contributions through United Way."
 
   "We must refuse to bow down to United Way directions - they violate
our basic principles," the letter states.
 
   If private donations don't increase, Gorman said, programs or
personnel will have to be cut.
 
   Contributions to the Boy Scouts can still can be made through United
Way if donors designate it as their charity of choice, said Stafford of
the Bay Area United Way.
 
   The decision to stop funding the Boy Scouts was a difficult, lengthy
process, Stafford said.  The organization decided to re-examine its
funding after a Superior Court judge ruled last May that the Boy Scouts
had a constitutional right to prohibit former Eagle Scout Timothy Curran
of Berkeley from becoming a scoutmaster because he is gay.  The judge
ruled that Curran's inclusion would undermine the organization's
teaching that homosexuality is immoral.
 
   "Boy Scouts have always reflected the values and expectations of
mainstream American families," said national spokesman Blake Lewis.  "We
don't believe homosexuals provide a role model that is consistent with
their beliefs."
 
   The United Way of the Bay Area requires agencies receiving funding to
sign a statement saying they do not discriminate on the basis of sexual
orientation, sex, race, religion or other factors, Stafford said.
 
   In Santa Clara County, the Stanford and San Jose Boy Scout councils
still will receive funding, but the United Way there has formed a
committee to look at how it can better serve the needs of the gay and
lesbian community.
 
   Representatives for the five Bay Area Scout Councils that are losing
funding said they wouldn't consider admitting gays in order to recoup
the United Way money.
   "No, our policies and procedures are the same as the national policy," said 
Marin County Scout executive Dale Cavin.  "For us to try and change the 
national policy would be like Congress trying to change the Bill of Rights."
 
   United Way of America also has no plans to change its policy, said
spokesman Blake Lewis.
 
   "We have said all along that our standards are not negotiable and our
values are not for sale, whether it's $1,000 or $1 million," Lewis
added.  "There's no price tag on the values of the organization."