Philadelphia moves to evict Boy Scouts over anti-gay policy

The days of free rent on a city owned building may be coming to an end for the Philadelphia branch of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). City Council has voted 16-1 to direct the city to end the lease, or force the BSA's Cradle of Liberty Council to pay full market value for the site, unless the scouts sign a pledge not to discriminate against openly gay people. The Cradle of Liberty Council is the third-largest scouting group in the country. It has been battling with the city for more than three years over the policy, which like the national Scouts organization, forbids gays from being leaders. The group has made its headquarters on a half-acre owned by the city in the upscale Philadelphia Art Museum area since 1928, when the city council voted to allow the Scouts to use the property rent-free "in perpetuity." The Scouts pay for building upkeep. The City Council resolution, which was voted on without debate, gives the city a year to reach a deal with the scouts. A spokesperson for the Philadelphia scouts called the resolution unfair. "We walk a fine line between what National wants and what we want to do," Cradle of Liberty Council spokesperson Jeff Jubelirer told the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Cradle of Liberty Council has about 64,000 members in Philadelphia and parts of Delaware and Montgomery Counties. The Boy Scouts of America's policy on gay leaders was upheld by the US Supreme Court in 2000. In 2003, the council in Philadelphia said it would adopt a nondiscrimination policy on gays. However, weeks later the group dismissed an 18-year-old Scout who publicly acknowledged he was gay.