Scouts Dig In for Philly Fight Over Gays

Battling city over eviction for barring gays
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted May 28, 2008 9:09 AM CDT
Scouts Dig In for Philly Fight Over Gays
Boy Scouts at an NRA Annual Meeting. The Philadelphia chapter of the scouts is in a legal battle with the city over gay rights.   (Getty Images)

The Philadelphia chapter of the Boy Scouts of America is locked in a legal battle with the city over the group's refusal to enroll gays. Philadelphia gave the Scouts an ultimatum to quit their historic city-owned headquarters—or pay a new fair-market annual rent of $200,000. The Scouts have responded with a federal civil rights lawsuit and are digging in for a long battle, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"The city has imposed an unconstitutional condition upon a benefit enjoyed for nearly eight decades, and that many other organizations that limit members continue to enjoy without punishment or the threat of punishment," the lawsuit states. (More Boy Scouts of America stories.)

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