A recent donation of office furniture by Wells Fargo to the Boy Scouts of America Cradle of Liberty Council has raised concern among some activists.
Wells Fargo is a major financial-services center in the country, with a long history of supporting LGBT organizations, programs and causes.
“Wells Fargo is an upstanding corporate citizen,” said R. Duane Perry, a local LGBT activist. “But can they say they’re LGBT-friendly and against discrimination, yet they’re supporting an organization that openly discriminates?”
Cradle is locked in a protracted legal battle with the City of Philadelphia, which is trying to evict the group from a city-owned building because it won’t allow openly gay participants.
The case remains pending in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, where both sides are expected to file briefs shortly.
James A. Baum, a spokesperson for Wells Fargo’s Northeast market, defended the furniture donation.
“Last year, Wells Fargo and its team members [employees] provided more than $213.5 million to 19,000 nonprofits across the country,” Baum said in an email. “Of that amount, more than $2.8 million was donated to nonprofits and other organizations serving the LGBT community.”
Baum added that “$462,000 was provided to local chapters of the Boy Scouts, so for every $1 Wells Fargo or a team member donated to the Scouts, Wells Fargo and Wells Fargo team members donated $6 to organizations that serve the LGBT community.”
Perry wasn’t swayed by that reasoning.
“I think they’re evading the issue,” he said. “Substitute ‘Jews’ or any other minority group for ‘LGBT.’ So, for instance, say last year, for every $1 that Wells Fargo gave to organizations that discriminated against Jews, Wells Fargo gave $6 to Jewish organizations. Does that make the discrimination somehow all right?”
Perry would like Wells Fargo to enact a policy limiting its donations to organizations that don’t discriminate.
“It’s clear that corporations should take responsibility for their actions, and should develop policies that support nondiscrimination in their giving,” Perry said. “Our largest foundations in Philadelphia will not give to organizations that discriminate. Corporations should follow their lead.”
Baum couldn’t say whether Wells Fargo would enact such a policy.
“I am not going to speculate on that,” he said. “I would have no idea how that could be implemented. You are talking about something that would be enacted on a corporate level. I don’t have that knowledge.”
A Wells Fargo corporate spokesperson couldn’t be reached for comment.
Baum noted that Wells Fargo has been cited on numerous occasions for its varied and extensive support of the LGBT community.
But Palma M. Rasmussen, a disability-rights activist, said the Scouts also discriminate against members of the disabled community.
Rasmussen, who is wheelchair-bound, served as a Scouts leader for three units in Titusville, Fla.
She was ejected from the organization after suing the BSA Central Florida Council for allegedly violating federal laws protecting the disabled.
Her case was dismissed as lacking in merit, but that hasn’t changed Rasmussen’s opinion of the organization.
“The Scouts don’t support a broad base of the community,” she said. “I can testify to that as a member of the disabled community who was horribly abused by the Scouts. Whenever I approached the upper echelon of Scouting about removing barriers for the disabled community, my efforts were rebuffed, They showed an appalling lack of sensitivity — not just for me and other disabled adults, but for many disabled youths who want full access to the organization.”
At the corporate level, Wells Fargo’s donations to the Scouts are limited to programs that don’t discriminate, Baum said.
“At the corporate level, we fund two specific Boy Scouts programs, Learning for Life and Exploring, which have explicit nondiscrimination policies,” Baum said. “Learning for Life is a pre-kindergarten through grade-12 program that provides character education, bullying prevention and related life-skills training. Exploring provides mentoring, internship and community-service opportunities for 14-20-year-olds. We have carefully reviewed the eligibility requirements for these two programs to ensure that they do not exclude participants and volunteers. This is consistent with our commitment to diversity and inclusion and our opposition to discrimination of any kind.”
Perry and Rasmussen took issue with Baum’s assertion that the programs don’t discriminate.
“Learning for Life and Exploring are part of Boy Scouts, led by the same Scout executives that are hired because they are not gay, agnostics or atheists,” Perry said.
Rasmussen was more pointed in her assessment.
“The Scouts are equal-opportunity discriminators,” she said. “In my opinion, racism, sexism, ableism and homophobia are rampant in the organization. The BSA has evolved into an outlet for the Mormons and their belief system. All of that money for Learning for Life and Exploring goes into the same dirty, stinking, smelly pot.”
At the local level, Wells Fargo’s donations to the Scouts aren’t limited to Learning for Life and Exploring, Baum added.
“At the local level, we believe our local business leaders make the best possible decisions for their communities and can choose to support any Scout programs that meet our commitment to diversity,” he said.
Baum added: “Wells Fargo supports a wide array of LGBT-related organizations, such as the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network and many others. Locally we are a significant sponsor of Equality Forum and other events and organizations.”
Perry expressed hope that dialogue with Wells Fargo will continue.
“Discrimination is very painful,” Perry concluded. “We’ve had a number of examples close to home in our community — teenagers committing suicide because they’re gay. Obviously, this is a serious issue that everyone needs to pay close attention to, including our corporate citizens. The decisions they make to support organizations that condone discrimination reverberate throughout the community.”
In a prepared statement, the Scouts expressed appreciation for the donation.
“We appreciate the donation of used office furniture from Wells Fargo Bank, which we understand came about as the result of consolidations of several branch offices. This furniture will support additional [Cradle] volunteers and staff who are working to provide positive activities for low-income and suburban youth.”