|
 For almost twenty years, the Unitarian-Universalist Association (UUA) has voiced its opposition to the discriminatory practices of the Boy Scouts of America. Based upon the principles which guide the Association, the UUA first protested against the BSA's discrimination against agnostic and atheist scouts, and then protested against discrimination aimed at gay scouts and scout leaders.
In 1992, the UUA Board of Trustees passed a resolution opposing these discriminatory practices, and in 1993 the UUA revised its Religion in Life religious emblem program book to include
information on the UUA's stance on these issues.
The dispute with the BSA entered a new phase in May 1998, when the BSA withdrew its authorization of the UUA's Religion in Life religious emblem because of the content in the Religion in Life program book. After a series of meetings, the UUA agreed to revise
the book to remove the language the BSA found offensive and instead to inform Scouts of its opposition to religious and sexual discrimination through other means. The BSA at first restored
authorization for the religious emblem, but then rescinded its reauthorization.
The UUA continues to encourage Scouts to work for the Religion in Life religious emblem, to have it presented to them by their
congregations, and to wear it with pride on the appropriate place on their Boy Scout uniforms. All without any official approval from the BSA.
In June 2000, the United States Supreme Court in a 5-4 vote,
overturned a unanimous ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court in the James Dale case and upheld the right of the BSA to bar from its ranks gay scouts and scout leaders. In the wake of the Dale decision
, the UUA has called for a halt to public funding for the BSA and a revocation of its Congressional Charter. Many UU churches which have either sponsored or hosted BSA units are currently reviewing
their relationships with the BSA. Many have severed decades-long ties with the BSA.
In this section of the web site, we've attempted to provide information about the UUA's Continuing Struggle for Inclusiveness
with the Boy Scouts of America. Included in this section are UUA General Assembly Actions of Immediate Witness, UUA Board of Trustees Resolutions, articles written by UUA members on the struggle with BSA, a debate on the position of UUA to BSA on the issue of
homosexuality, and a large section on the continuing controversy over the UUA demanding its right to teach its youth their faith without theological interference and oversight from BSA.
|
