The Washington Times catalogs the revenge many cities and states are taking against the Boy Scouts for not admitting gays and atheists. The SCOTUS already ruled (in the Dale case) that as a private organization the Boy Scouts is free to set their membership requirements any way they see fit. But in an act of revenge, state and local governments (and even some judges) are getting back at the scouts for not admitting homosexuals. In a lawsuit in Connecticut, Second Circuit Court Judge Guido Calabresi, even went so far as to tell "the Boy Scouts in a footnote to his ruling the state was free to make the BSA 'pay a price' for its stand on God and homosexuals."

Elsewhere in the country:

o In Portland, Ore., the United Way will cut off at least $150,000 per year starting in July for about 53,000 inner-city youths served by the Boy Scouts. Activities included soccer for Hispanic youths in Clackamas County and camp-outs, community service and a Soap Box Derby in mainly black northeast Portland. After homosexual rights activists pressured the United Way to dump the group, an Oregonian columnist criticized the agency for forsaking poor, minority young people.

"Boy Scouts may not accept gays," wrote S. Renee Mitchell last April, "but it does a better job than many United Way agencies at reaching out to everybody else."

o The California Supreme Court in June ordered that any state judges volunteering with the BSA as Scout leaders remove themselves from cases involving homosexuals.

o In Berkeley, Calif., an affiliate known as the Sea Scouts has been denied free berthing rights at the local dock since 1998 because of the BSA's position. Even though the Sea Scouts insisted it does not discriminate, but could not renounce BSA policy if it wished to keep its charter, Berkeley city officials said they were within their rights to cease treating the BSA like other tax-exempt organizations. An appeal is being processed with the California Supreme Court.

o In San Bernadino County, east of Los Angeles, the ACLU in January 2003 sued the BSA's Old Baldy Council because the Scouts, it said, falsely claimed they would comply with state antidiscrimination laws in order to get a $15,000 federal grant. The case is still in District Court.

o In 2000, in response to the Dale decision, the delegates to the National Education Association's annual meeting adopted a resolution calling on school boards "to establish policies requiring that all private organizations using school facilities have nondiscriminatory membership policies."

The good news is that the Boy Scouts are making some headway. The AP reports that even the Department of Justice has come out on the side of the scouts.