Sun Dec 19 20:20:54 1993
Subject: Gay man appeals ruling on Boy Scout membership

LOS ANGELES (UPI) -- A San Francisco Bay man Thursday appealed a lower
court decision that allows the Boy Scouts of America to exclude him from
membership because he is gay.
     
American Civil Liberties Union attorneys argued in the state's Second
Appellate Court that the Boy Scouts' policy to exclude Timothy Curran
and other homosexuals is "the most blatant, poor kind of discrimination
that exists.''
     
Curran, 32, was kicked out of the Boy Scouts in 1980 when leaders read a
newspaper article in which he revealed he was homosexual.
     
George Davidson, representing the Boy Scouts of America's Mount Diablo
Council, contended that the organization has a "very different moral
view" than Curran.
     
Davidson said leaders were worried  that Curran and other vocal
homosexuals "would tend to influence the attitudes of the boys."
     
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge had sided with the Boy Scouts in
1991, ruling that the Boy Scouts could exclude Curran on the grounds of
freedom of expression.
     
Curran appealed that decision, hoping to be reinstated to the Boy Scouts
and become a group leader.
     
The appellate panel is expected to issue a ruling within 90 days.