The Philadelphia Boy Scouts Cradle of Liberty Council — the third largest Boy Scout council in the U.S. — announced last week that they would no longer support the national Boy Scouts policy of discriminating against gays and added sexual orientation to their non-discrimination policy.

Although it is too soon to tell what the repercussions may be, the local consensus seems to be that the decision in Philadelphia will have little immediate effect in San Diego, but may have a significant long-term impact nationwide.

“I think it’s fabulous,” said Howard Menzer, Southwest Regional Director of Scouting for All. “Any time someone steps up to the plate and says, ‘I think you’re wrong,’ it’s great…. I think it’s going to have a tremendous effect in the long run. When the third largest council in the Boy Scouts of America’s hierarchy says ‘No, you’re wrong’ — we’re talking about 87,000 members — that is large. Any time a group that large steps up to the plate to say no, that has to have an effect.

“I don’t think it’s going to have any effect locally,” he continued. “There are a couple of problems.… One, the new [San Diego Boy Scout Council] executive is a Mormon.… Two, the city council capitulated [on the Balboa Park lease of land to the Boy Scouts].”

When the Gay and Lesbian Times contacted the local Boy Scout council, director of marketing and public relations Thyme Osborne merely responded, “I don’t know how that would affect us.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a lawsuit against the City of San Diego for giving a discriminatory organization special benefits — in direct opposition to the city’s Human Dignity Ordinance, which prevents discrimination based on sexual orientation. Although the Boy Scouts are party to the lawsuit, as it is their discriminatory practices that are the basis of the complaint, it is unlikely that the lawsuit will be directly affected by the Liberty Council’s change in policy.

“The national Boy Scout organization last year specifically reaffirmed its policy of discrimination and indicated to its affiliates that if any of them chose not to comply with that policy they would be ‘excommunicated,’ if you will, from the Boy Scouts,” said Dale Kelly-Bankhead, San Diego ACLU Public Affairs Director. “However, in terms of general attitude, I think that if the national Boy Scouts do follow up on that threat and do oust the Liberty Council — which is sort of ironic — that’s going to have a huge effect on public opinion, and I’m sure that everybody who’s involved in the case, from city council members to members of the judicial branch to attorneys and members of the community at large, is going to see it as a very negative step on the part of the Boy Scouts. So it certainly will help the cause, although it won’t have a direct affect, as far as we can tell at this point, on the lawsuit.”

For more information on efforts to end discrimination in the Boy Scouts, visit sdscout ingforall.org or www.aclusandiego.org.