COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The Columbus local Boy Scout council could lose nearly half a million dollars a year in United Way funding because of the organization’s national anti-gay policy.

The United Way of Central Ohio adopted a policy requiring the 80 organizations it funds to sign a nondiscrimination pledge.

Any group that fails to do so by the end of the year could be cut off from United Way funding in 2005.

The move is aimed at the Simon Kenton Council, which serves more than 42,000 scouts in 23 counties. The council received about $498,000 from the local United Way this year.

“United Way of Central Ohio raises dollars from the entire community, and we believe strongly that we must serve the needs of the entire community,” Chairwoman Tanny Crane said.

Lee Shaw, interim director of the Simon Kenton Council, said he hopes to satisfy the requirement without jeopardizing the Boy Scouts’ values.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the Boy Scouts of America did not have to hire gay men as Scout leaders or accept them as members.

“The ruling set off a firestorm of criticism in the gay and lesbian communities,” said Yvette McGee Brown, who was chairwoman of the United Way board at the time.

Some gays and lesbians stopped giving to the agency’s annual campaign. Many asked United Way contributors to designate their donations to social service groups other than the Boy Scouts.

Some United Way affiliates around the country have stopped or reduced funding to the Boy Scouts. Others, such as the Cleveland area agency, stopped funding traditional Scout programs but support Learning for Life, a Boy Scout-sponsored program that has no prohibitions and allows girls to participate.

A majority of the money from the United Way of Central Ohio supports the Learning for Life program, Shaw said, without providing specifics.

Mary Jo Hudson, a United Way board member and gay rights activist, said the policy will vindicate gay men who have been banned from volunteering or helping their sons’ Scout troops.