Prime Piece Of Real Estate To Be Gay-Free No More

Yesterday, the Fairmount Park Commission voted and agreed with the Street Administration’s decision to force the Boy Scouts to pay market value rent for their building or be evicted.

Currently, the city gives the Boy Scouts Cradle of Liberty Council free use of the building, which the council built as its headquarters in 1928. The Scouts, of course, can allow whoever they want into their group, but if they’re not going to let in gays, then the city doesn’t want to give them free rent — as it doesn’t jive with the city’s nondiscrimination policy.

While the Cradle of Liberty Council did agree to nondiscrimination policy, soon after they adopted it the group kicked out an 18-year-old Eagle Scout who came out. The city said, “Hey, I thought we had a deal,” and so last week finally sent a letter to the Council notifying the group of its decision.

A spokesman for the national organization said that “[t]he policy isn’t going anywhere,” affirming his group’s duties to God, country and queer-hatin’. Council spokesman Jeff Jubelirer said he wasn’t aware of any Fairmount Park Commission vote taking place yesterday, and wondered why LGBT advocates were there and knew about it.

Fo his part, City Solicitor Romulo Diaz says the city doesn’t want to evict the scouts, which I think is a tremendously short-sighted way of thinking. Uhh, hello, 22nd and Winter streets? That’s prime real estate, right off Logan Circle! If the city’s not interested in getting a piece of that action, they clearly don’t have their heads screwed on right.

Scouts will fight for use of building [Inquirer]
Parks vote agrees on Scouts [Daily News]
Yesterday: Pretty Gay Group To Be Evicted For Anti-Gay Stance