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Compiled By GayToday
On Tuesday, January 5, the New Jersey Supreme Court will hear the appeal brought by the Boy Scouts of America in Dale v. Boy Scouts of America. Lambda Senior Staff Attorney Evan Wolfson will argue on behalf of Dale. Afterwards, both Wolfson and Dale will speak to reporters outside the courthouse.
Rejecting the Boy Scouts of America's attempts to exempt itself from the law, the appeals court said, "Nothing before us even suggests that a male, simply because he is gay, will somehow undermine Boy Scouts of America's fundamental beliefs and teachings." Dale, now 27, rose to the rank of Eagle Scout and was invited to become an assistant scout master, only to be forced out in 1990 by the national BSA when they learned in a school newspaper article that he is gay.
Earlier this year, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear an
unrelated challenge to the Boy Scouts of America's exclusionary policies, while the
California Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America is not covered under that state's more
restrictive civil rights law.
Several professional, religious, and non-gay and gay organizations filed friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of Dale. The New York law firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Stein & Hamilton and New Jersey attorney Lewis Robertson are co- counsel in the case. |
