Boy Scouts to AFTAH – UPS’ Pro-Gay Policy Shift ‘Will Prevent Further Funding of Scouting’

Responses to AFTAH questions cast doubt on UPS talking points denying cut-off of Scouts

By Peter LaBarbera

Dear Readers,

Following our initial report on United Parcel Service’s (UPS) shift in its pro-“gay” charitable giving approach to mandate that all UPS Foundation grantees — including the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) — ban “discrimination” based on “sexual orientation,” many of you called UPS to complain. Unfortunately, UPS’ responses to your calls tended to obfuscate the basic story: that the Boy Scouts, which received $150,000 from UPS Foundation in 2012, will no longer be eligible to receive future UPS gifts due to the BSA’s longstanding policy of not allowing (openly) homosexual members or scoutmasters.

This de facto UPS cut-off of future funding for the Scouts was precisely the lobbying goal of pro-homosexual activists like Zach Wahls, but a UPS staffer denied to AFTAH that the company was pressured into cutting off the Scouts’ funding.

Several AFTAH readers e-mailed to notify us of UPS’ dubious claim that the corporation is still funding the Boy Scouts, or at least had not cut them off — an obvious technicality, in our view, because under the new policy UPS funds can only flow to the BSA if the Scouts cave in by adopting a pro-homosexual “nondiscrimation” policy.

UPS spokesmen also asserted that there were other branches of the Scouts — or individual, more liberal local councils — that still could receive UPS funding by “checking off” the “sexual orientation nondiscrimination” box, as our friend Linda Harvey of Mission America was told. This evidently is not the case, per the Scouts’ responses to questions 2 and 3 below.

Here are the Boy Scouts of America’s responses to our e-mail questions:

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Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH):  1) Does the BSA perceive this as UPS dropping its annual funding of the Scouts [$150,000 in 2012, according to UPS]?

Boy Scouts of America (BSA):  It is our understanding that this policy will prevent future funding of Scouting.

AFTAH:  2) Does the BSA allow individual troops to put forward “sexual orientation” nondiscrimination policies, so as to be eligible to receive funding from companies like UPS and Intel?

Boy Scouts:  No.  The BSA has one policy.

AFTAH:  3) Is the UPS claim regarding the Explorer program accurate? Can the Explorer program receive UPS funds because it has a [“sexual orientation”] nondiscrimination policy?  If so, does this alleviate the hardship caused by pulling out funding from other Scout programs?  What is the budget of the Explorer program compared to the BSA budget?

Boy Scouts:  Exploring is a part of Learning for Life, a subsidiary of the Boy Scouts of America.  Exploring does not have a membership standard as it relates to this issue.  That said, it is a completely separate entity.  While supporting Exploring is both necessary and worthy, it does not help support the great work of traditional Scouting program in local communities.

AFTAH:  4) Is there a “gay-affirmative Scouting” program in the works, or something like that which the Scouts are cooperating with?

Boy Scouts:  No.

AFTAH:  5) Lastly, is there a BSA statement on the impact of the UPS decision, which was announced after a pro-gay lobbying blitz on Change.org? (The UPS staffer I spoke with denied that they were pressured into making the policy change.)  How will the BSA adapt to this latest strategy to pressure the Scouts to change their policy on homosexuality?

Boy Scouts:  We are disappointed to learn about this [UPS] decision but respect everyone’s right to have and express a different opinion. Unfortunately, this decision will have a direct impact on the youth we serve in local communities.  Through 110,000 units, Scouting represents millions of youth and adult members in diverse communities across the nation, each with a variety of beliefs on this topic. Scouting’s focus will remain on working together to deliver the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training.

Public Relations Department,
Boy Scouts of America
1325 Walnut Hill Lane
P.O. Box 152079
Irving, Texas 75015-2079

Phone: 972-580-2000