Outsports Discussion Board > Bush To Give Boy Scouts Access to Schools While Ignoring Gay Student Groups

Full Version: Bush To Give Boy Scouts Access to Schools While Ignoring Gay Student Groups

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twin58

Oct 20 2004, 06:37 PM

Bush Administration To Give Boy Scouts Access to Schools While Ignoring Gay Student Groups

QUOTE

by Doreen Brandt 365Gay.com Washington Bureau

Posted: October 20, 2004 5:01 pm ET

(Washington) Saying that the Bush Administration is focused on protecting the Boy Scouts' access to public schools while ignoring the rights of gay student groups whose equal rights are often violated, Lambda Legal urged the U.S. Department of Education Wednesday to add inclusive language to policy regulations.

The new regulations were made public this week and now enter a 45-day period of public comment before going into effect.
....

In a statement, Secretary of Education Rod Paige said: \"The goal of these regulations is to ensure that the Boy Scouts and other patriotic youth groups have equal access to public facilities, and today's action is another step toward achieving this goal.\"
....

OlympicFan

Oct 21 2004, 11:11 AM

If you want to read the Dept. of Education press release on the issue:
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2004/...0/10132004.html

That link includes the email and snail mail addresses for commenting on the proposed rule changes. Maybe we should all give our 2 cents on the appropriateness of giving special access protection to "patriotic" groups that already have plenty of access.

Here's the full text of the proposed rule for your reading pleasure:
http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/...-4/101904a.html

[ October 21, 2004, 11:16 AM: Message edited by: OlympicFan ]

twin58

Oct 21 2004, 04:40 PM

QUOTE

OlympicFan:
link to press release

which says:

QUOTE

The proposed regulations enforce the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act, which requires public schools that receive federal education funds to provide the Boy Scouts and other designated patriotic youth organizations under federal law (including, among others, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. and Little League Baseball, Inc.) with equal access to school facilities as compared to outside community and youth groups. The law also requires that these patriotic youth groups be given equal access to school activities and school-related communication tools (e.g., bulletin boards) as compared to other outside community and youth groups. Congress passed the Boy Scouts Act as part of the bipartisan No Child Left Behind education reforms and charged the Department's Office for Civil Rights with enforcing the law.

If there's already an Act that gives the BSA special rights, what's the point of this new regulation?

From the other link:

QUOTE

The Boy Scouts Act applies to any public elementary school, public secondary school, local educational agency (LEA), or State educational agency (SEA) that has a designated open forum or limited public forum and that receives funds made available through the Department of Education (Department). Under this law, those entities may not deny equal access or a fair opportunity to meet to, or discriminate against, any group officially affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America or any other youth group listed in title 36 of the United States Code (as a patriotic society) that wishes to conduct a meeting within the covered entity's designated open forum or limited public forum.

I take a dim view of the government's self-appointed ability to determine which groups are patriotic and which are not.

[ October 21, 2004, 05:01 PM: Message edited by: twin58 ]

jqueer

Oct 21 2004, 05:17 PM

QUOTE

twin58:
If there's already an Act that gives the BSA special rights, what's the point of this new regulation?

Because that's what government departments do. They create policy which enforces laws passed by Congress. Usually the law has written into it a directive to the department in question that it create policies to do whatever it is that the law wants to do.

QUOTE

I take a dim view of the government's self-appointed ability to determine which groups are patriotic and which are not.

On the other hand, this opens up a huge can of worms of groups claiming to be patriotic and suing the government to be recognized as such. I'd love to start up a scouting organization that specifically restricts evangelicals and fundamentalists from leadership roles. I think we'll see it. And I think this act and the policy of the education agency will encourage trouble makers like myself to push the issue as hard as possible.

twin58

Oct 21 2004, 05:21 PM

Thanks for the explanation. I think I've got Title 36 here, but these don't look, for the most part, to be youth groups.

U.S. Code: TITLE 36. PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES, CEREMONIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS

sportinlife

Oct 22 2004, 04:08 AM

Does anyone else think of Hitler's youth when reading this? The parallels are becoming disturbing.

DallasUNC

Oct 22 2004, 05:41 PM

I wasnt aware the Boy Scouts *didnt* have access to schools. When I joined Cub Scouts as a little kid it was done in my elementary school. After hours, but they still allowed them a room for sign up. Though they never held their meetings in a school or anything. But that was 1984 or something so who knows what goes on now.

twin58

Oct 22 2004, 07:36 PM

They do. The problem is, as things now stand, so do a lot of other groups, including gay-straight alliances. By having the government determine which groups are patriotic and which are not, this problem can be solved.

Who better to decide the worth of one's viewpoint than the government?

Do not click here, whatever you do.

[ October 22, 2004, 07:37 PM: Message edited by: twin58 ]

gobar

Oct 22 2004, 07:50 PM

I may be wrong but I think in some areas Boy Scouts do not have access due to their discriminatory policies against gays specifically. School districts with policies that don't allow for discrimination against gays do not allow the boy scouts to have meetings on their property. This is just more anti-gay hoopla disguised as "patriotism".

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