That policy has been called into question numerous times since the 5-4 Supreme Court in June in Dale v. Boy Scouts of America that the Boy Scouts could not be forced to allow an admitted homosexual as an assistant scoutmaster because it would violate the organization's right to express its opposition to homosexuality.
In a news release posted on their website, the BSA writes, "We believe an avowed homosexual is not a role model for the values espoused in the Scout Oath and Law. Boy Scouting makes no effort to discover the sexual orientation of any person. Scouting's message is compromised when prospective leaders present themselves as role models inconsistent with Boy Scouting's understanding of the Scout Oath and Law."
"I think we have a case here of outright bigotry," President Tom Gerety told The Student.
"Our president was very forceful in expressing the Amherst College community's concern about the possibility that some of the monies [raised by the college] were going toward discriminatory organizations," said Professor of Economics Geoffrey Woglom, who co-chairs the United Way campaign on campus.
As President Tom Gerety pointed out in a letter to the Amherst College community, various leadership positions in the Great Trails Council (the local Boy Scout chapter in Hampshire County) require "membership" to the Boy Scouts of America. Such membership requires the taking of oath to be "morally straight."
Although the Great Trails Council insists that it accepts and supports scouts and scout leaders regardless of their sexual preferences, many Amherst faculty members remain uncertain about their indirect contributions to the Great Trails Council through the Hampshire County United Way. Great Trails receives about $86,000-or about 16 percent of its $550,000 yearly operating budget-from different United Way chapters.
"I think that we all believe that [the Great Trails Council] in all honesty is not trying to discriminate," said Carole Laliberte, co-chair of the United Way. "But Great Trails is part of the national, and they have to live and abide by the rules of the national. You can say whatever you want, but you have to answer to another level."
Woglom had a similar concern. "If you had an openly gay person working for the Great Trails Council, [the Boy Scouts of America] would say, 'Fire him, or drop your association with us,'" he said.
Renee Fairrer, associate director of external communications for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), said that the BSA would only drop association with an avowed homosexual if he were a volunteer working with children, like a scoutmaster. In such a case, the BSA would refund a person's membership fees and consider another position for him that didn't involve coming into contact with children, Fairrer said.
"These questions can be complicated by the symbolic and legal relationships between local agencies and their national headquarters," wrote Gerety.
Since the Boy Scouts won their case, local organizations like the United Way that contribute to regional Boy Scouts are questioning their funding of such organizations.
Woglom speculated that the Great Trails Council is "trying not to have that confrontation with [the BSA]."
Great Trails Council President Jeffrey Sedgwick said he would not report a gay scout leader to the national association. He added that the Great Trails Council does not ask leaders background questions. "The national policy does not fit with the communities we serve, in general," he said in a Hampshire Gazette interview. "We don't teach heterosexuality. We don't teach discrimination."
But Fairrer said that the Great Trails Council is "absolutely and unequivocally abiding and adhering to national policy."
"Both the [Great Trails] Council and the United Way are trying to address community concerns and community needs and come up with an agreement that allows the Boy Scouts of America and the Great Trails Council to have their beliefs and mission and allows the United Way to have their beliefs and mission," she said. "When it's all said and done, it's just words on paper, it's just semantics."
Fairrer compared the Boy Scouts of America and its regional organizations to a franchise. "It's an agreement that's been entered into and everyone shares in that agreement," she said. "We provide each council the autonomy to make it work in their area, but we are all operating within the same guidelines."
The issue is also complicated because cutting funding from the United Way means cutting other programs, according to Professor of Physics Kannan Jagannathan. "It's a complicated judgment call in light of the Supreme Court ruling," said Jagannathan, who wrote a letter to the College co-chairs for the United Way campaign regarding his decision to discontinue his contribution this year. "It's good to use what leverage we have to pressure the Boy Scouts indirectly."
Jagannathan said that the leverage anyone at the College has should be weighed against what the United Way does that is good. "The United Way and all the organizations it supports do a lot of good and important things that I wouldn't want to see hurt," he said.
Woglom agreed with Jagannathan. "This is a sensitive issue because a lot of people benefit from the United Way, and there are a lot of people besides the Boy Scouts who are going to suffer [if people withdraw their contributions to the United Way]," he said.
"But to the extent that you raise money through the United Way, you support the national United Way, and some other United Ways throughout the country are supporting [the national Boy Scouts of America]," Woglom added.
Since 1995, when Massachusetts updated its non-discrimination laws, including a statement that no businesses or organizations could discriminate based on sexual orientation, the Hampshire Community United Way also updated its non-discrimination policies, said Hampshire Community United Way President John Sheehan. They asked the organizations they funded to submit non-discrimination policies, requiring them to be in accordance with the new state law, and they are now working on implementing that policy, posting it in draft form on-line for community members to comment on.
The Great Trails Council submitted their policy and "went a step further, asking the national organization [of the Boy Scouts of America] if they would reconsider their policy on gays," Sheehan said. He added that other regional organizations have asked the BSA to do the same.
When The Northern Berkshire United Way, a nearby chapter, asked the Great Trails Council to adopt a policy that voiced the group's own commitment to nondiscrimination, the national Boy Scouts rejected the proposal, which resulted in the Northern Berkshire United Way dropping the Great Trails Council from funding.
However, Sheehan says, "I am very proud that the local Boy Scouts have a nondiscrimination policy and I'm proud that they have asked the national Boy Scouts to change the discrimination policy. I believe the Boy Scouts of America will change its policy in the future."
Fairrer disagreed. "These policies have served us well for over 90 years," she said. "I don't see 90 years of credible success changing quickly."
The Great Trails Council's request that the Boy Scouts of America reconsider its refusal to allow gays to hold leadership roles was ignored, according to The Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Fairrer said that such protest is miniscule compared to the abundance of favorable feedback the BSA has received since the Supreme Court hearing.
"There have been approximately 140 United Ways who have decided to withdraw funding from Boy Scouts of America based on the decision handed down by the Supreme Court," said Fairrer. "However, there are 1,400 United Way chapters across the United States."
Fairrer says the United Way, which provides $83 million in funding to the Boy Scouts annually, according to ABCNews.com, has "enjoyed a positive relationship for years" with the BSA. "The chief executive office and the president, Betty Bean, of the United Way clearly support the BSA's position on this issue," she said. "However, each chapter of the United Way pretty much has the autonomy to determine what's right and effective in their area."
It may not be possible for local chapters to sever ties with the national council, however. Although the BSA does not give money to the regional organizations, it does provide Scout camps, awards and guidebooks that the local level may not be able to afford.