As a decision nears in the Boy Scouts eviction case, the Scouts have filed court papers focusing attention on a program they say is open to all Philadelphia youths, including gays and atheists.
The program, known as Learning for Life, partners with Philadelphia schools and the police department to provide vocational and educational training to inner-city youths.
The city is trying to evict the Boy Scouts Cradle of Liberty Council from a city-owned building at 231-251 N. 22nd St. because it won’t pay fair-market rent nor allow openly gay participants.
The dispute is pending in federal court, where a judge is expected to issue a ruling within the next several weeks after hearing arguments from both sides.
The council also serves as a fiscal agent for Learning for Life, a co-educational program that permits openly gay youths, employees and volunteers, according to the Scouts’ recent motion.
In fact, the council serves 72,000 children annually in programs administered at the 22nd Street building, and all but 16,000 of those children are served by Learning for Life, according to the Scouts’ motion.
Learning for Life allegedly doesn’t discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, physical handicap or marital status.
Learning for Life differs from traditional Scouting programs, which exclude participants on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and religion.
The council has two main office buildings: the city-owned building on North 22nd Street and a building in Wayne. The Scouts say the “lion’s share” of their traditional Scouting programs is administered at the Wayne facility.
Learning for Life is “a separate corporation affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America [with] separate accounts, books and records and financial statements,” the Scouts’ motion states.
The Scouts refuse to sign a lease containing anti-bias language covering gays and other protected categories — a major stumbling block in resolving the dispute.
However, if the Scouts agree to restrict their activities to Learning for Life inside the 22nd Street building, the signing of such a lease may be possible.
The city has stated repeatedly that it’s only seeking nondiscrimination at the 22nd Street building — which falls under the purview of the Fair Practices Ordinance.
“If Learning for Life was the lessee of the city-owned property, and if Learning for Life does not, as the Boy Scouts assert, discriminate in violation of the city’s laws and policies, the question of an alleged right to a government subsidy for their discriminatory conduct would not be before this court,” a recent motion filed by the city states.
The Scouts may discriminate “to their hearts’ content” against people who aren’t protected by local, state or federal anti-bias laws covering Wayne, the city’s motion states.
City attorneys won’t comment on the possibility of an out-of-court settlement allowing the council to restrict activities at 22nd Street to Learning for Life exclusively.
In a prepared statement, the Scouts say they haven’t ruled out that possibility:
“The Cradle of Liberty Council is, and always has been, willing to discuss with the city ways to resolve the present dispute. The council has engaged in these discussions both before and after the filing of the lawsuit, and remains willing to consider additional viable proposals.”
The Scouts declined to comment if they would submit to local monitoring to ensure the independence of Learning for Life from traditional Scouting programs.
The council’s executive director maintains an office inside the 22nd Street building, and would probably have to relocate to the Wayne building if a compromise settlement were to take place, sources told PGN.
Margaret A. Downey, president of the Freethought Society, based in Pocopson, said the city should reject any compromise allowing Learning for Life to operate at 22nd Street without paying fair-market rent.
She questioned the separateness of the program from traditional Scouting, noting the possibility of shared funding, office space, employees, volunteers, insurance coverage and other resources.
“The Scouts need to make a decision to totally excise the cancer of discrimination from the body of their organization,” Downey said. “An ethical organization would serve the entire community, without pre-selecting ‘undesirables’ and excluding them.”
Stephen A. Glassman, chair of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, said it’s difficult to comment about Learning for Life without more details on its work.
“There needs to be a complete, thorough analysis of this Learning for Life program by competent individuals in education and social-service professions in order to determine that this is a legitimate program — and not a pretext for discrimination in all of the Scouts’ traditional programming,” Glassman told PGN.
The Scouts want U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter to dissolve a preliminary injunction that allows them to stay in the building and replace it with a permanent one, allowing them to remain in the building in perpetuity, without paying rent or allowing openly gay participants.
City attorneys want Buckwalter to order the immediate eviction of the Scouts, since the Scouts haven’t proven their eviction would be unconstitutional, and the city has cited ample law to justify the eviction, according to the city’s motion.
Tim Cwiek can be reached at (215) 625-8501 ext. 208.