Throughout October, Scouting for All is organizing several rallies across the country to protest the Boy Scouts of America’s membership policies, which exclude gay and atheist youth and adult leaders. The San Diego chapter has more to dispute as they fight to remove the Boy Scouts from their Balboa Park headquarters, which Scouting for All claims is a violation of the city’s non-discrimination code.

“The Boy Scouts have deemed themselves as a private, religious, discriminating organization. As such, they have no right to take one dime from the taxpayers: you and I. As far as I am concerned, that is wrong,” said Howard Menzer, an Eagle Scout and the southwestern regional director for Scouting for All.

The court system has upheld the Boy Scouts’ right to exclude gays and atheists from the organization, citing their religious rights. In contrast, the city of San Diego has a standing 1990 ordinance that forbids the city to do business with organizations that discriminate.

In April 2004, U.S. District Judge Napoleon Jones, Jr. ruled against the Boy Scouts on all issues in the city lease case, Barnes-Wallace v. Boy Scouts, including the BSA camp in Balboa Park and the Fiesta Island facility in Pacific Beach. The Boy Scouts have not vacated either property, and still use both facilities regularly.

“They lost the case in Judge Jones’ court, but it is now someplace in the appeals process. The truth is, they have nothing to appeal,” Menzer said. “Their lease that they pushed through says that if they lost in a court of law, the lease is null and void. By their own set-up, they should be on their way out of there. Yet the city and our City Council has allowed them to continue to remain and exhaust all their appeals. I don’t want that. I want a decisive decision. They have outlived their acceptance in San Diego, as a private religious organization in San Diego taking public funds.”

The City Council voted to renew the Scouts’ 25-year lease for $1 a year. City Councilmembers Donna Frye, Toni Atkins and Ralph Inzunza were the other votes cast against the Boy Scouts at the time. Menzer hopes the two remaining City Council members – Inzunza resigned in July after being convicted of accepting illegal campaign contributions – Atkins and Frye, will be instrumental in assisting in the Scouting for All cause. Atkins is San Diego’s acting mayor, and Frye is running for mayor in the Nov. 8 special election.

“I think Donna Fry will press the issue – with our help, of course,” Menzer said. “I think if Donna gets in, we are going to see the Boy Scouts go away.”

Menzer said the protest, an annual event for the past six years, is really meant to draw attention to the issue so that the local community and community leaders will not forget that the Boy Scouts are violating the city of San Diego’s non-discrimination regulations.

“It’s to let the people of San Diego know and let the Boy Scouts of America know that our faith is constantly renewed and that we really need them to come to the table and turn this around,” he said.

Last Sunday’s protest was held in front of the Boy Scouts’ Balboa Park headquarters at 1207 Upas St. A crowd of about 100 people listened to eight speakers, who ranged from gay and transgender Eagle Scouts to straight and lesbian supporters.

“I think it went fabulously. Our speakers were amazing,” Menzer said. “I was absolutely tickled with the rally.”

The protest also drew a handful of protestors, but they were clearly outnumbered by the police force that was present.

“Contrary to the protestors, we don’t want to take over the Boy Scouts, we don’t want to destroy the organization,” Menzer said. “What I would like to see the Boy Scouts do is not open their doors and accept gays into their troops – I don’t expect that. We just want to level the playing field. That is our aim.”

On a national level, Scouting for All is fighting to give control of membership to individual Boy Scout troops, and not allow the national organization to dictate membership policies. Meanwhile, the local chapter continues their fight to remove the Boy Scouts from city property.

For more information, visit www.sdscoutingforall.org, or contact Menzer at (858) 268-2853, or via e-mail at howmen@sbcglobal.net.