Gay Today | Gay News, current events, entertainment, stories and features

Anti-Gay Amendments Introduced
by 2 Republican Zealots

Sen. Jesse Helms and Rep. Van Hilleary Denounced by HRC

'Examples of Political Grandstanding by Anti-gay Politicians'

Compiled By GayToday

Rep. Van Hilleary joins Helms' Homophobic Club

Washington, D.C.-- Two companion amendments offered in the Senate by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C. and in the House by Rep. Van Hilleary, R-Tenn. were denounced by the Human Rights Campaign yesterday as gratuitous anti-gay attacks.

The amendments would prohibit federal funding to schools that choose not to offer facilities to Boy Scout troops because of their discriminatory policy banning gay scouts. However, the measures--with a House vote expected as early as today--are unnecessary, because the law already dictates that the Boy Scouts have equal access to school facilities, asserts HRC.

"These bankrupt measures will accomplish nothing concrete or substantial in the policy arena and are vivid examples of political grandstanding by anti-gay politicians," says HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg. "The Boy Scouts have always had, and still have access to schools, so this is really nothing more than a punishment in search of a problem."

To gain support for his amendment, Hilleary sent out a letter that mistakenly said the Boy Scouts were routinely denied access to schools. To clear up this campaign of misinformation, a "Dear Colleague" letter was sent by Reps. Bill Delahunt, D-Mass., and Connie Morella, R-Md.

"The Hilleary Dear Colleague might lead you to believe that such exclusion is lawful and commonplace and it is not," said the letter sent by Morella and Delahunt. "A selective denial of equal access is unlawful. And no school district has ever successfully barred the Boy Scouts from using school facilities that are open to all."

To rally support against the measures, HRC sent out an action alert to its members, asking them to urge their representatives to oppose these bills. Additionally, a letter signed by several key organizations that oppose these measures was sent to Capitol Hill.

Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:

Helms Amendment is a Punishment in Search of a Problem

Republican Leaders Declare War on Gay America

The Republicans: Building a Fascist Future

Related Sites:
Human Rights Campaign

GayToday does not endorse related sites.

Groups that signed on to the letter are: the Association of School Administrators, American Association of University Women, American Psychological Association, Americans for Democratic Action, Anti-Defamation League, Council of the Great City Schools, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, Myra Sadker Advocates, the National Association of School Psychologists, National Association of Secondary School Principals, National Council of Jewish Women, National Education Association, National Federation of Filipino American Associations, National PTA, National Rural Education Association, National School Boards Association, National Women's Law Center, New York State Education Department, NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund, People For the American Way, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, and the United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries.

Helms said on the Senate floor last week that "radical militants" were trying to ban the Boy Scouts from campuses. He also said they [gay activists] "demand that everybody else's principles must be cast aside in order to protect the right of homosexual conduct."