UPS Yanks Funding From Boy Scouts

Ends grants over BSA's discrimination against gays
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 14, 2012 8:12 AM CST
UPS Yanks Funding From Boy Scouts
Zach Wahls addresses the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC, on Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The philanthropic arm of shipping giant UPS said it will no longer give money to the Boy Scouts of America as long as the group discriminates against gays, joining Intel as the second major corporation to recently strip funding from the scouts. The UPS Foundation made the change after an online petition protesting its annual grants to the Boy Scouts attracted more than 80,000 signatures. The UPS Foundation gave more than $85,000 to the Boy Scouts in 2011, according to its federal tax return.

A UPS spokeswoman said grant recipients will have to adhere to the same standards UPS does by not discriminating against anyone based on race, religion, disability, or sexual orientation. "UPS is a company that does the right things for the right reasons," she says. The move traces back to Zach Wahls, an Eagle Scout and founder of Scouts for Equality, who began online petitions this fall at Change.org calling for corporations to end their financial support of the Boy Scouts. "Corporate America gets it better than most: policies that discriminate aren't simply wrong, they're bad for business and they're hurting the scouting community," Wahls says. "You would think that after all the Boy Scouts have lost as a result of this policy, they would understand that." (More Boy Scouts of America stories.)

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