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Anti-Gay Amendment Passes
but Shrinks after a Compromise

Passes U.S. Senate 51-49, House Masks Bias with Voice Vote

HRC Thanks Sen. Kennedy for Removing Bigoted Language

Compiled By GayToday

Sen. Kennedy: Fighting the good fight

Washington, D.C. -- A House-Senate committee compromise on an anti-gay amendment sponsored by Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., was disappointing, said the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), but has diminished the impact of the original amendment by stripping it of harmful language.

The amendment, which passed the Senate 51 to 49 and in the House on voice vote, prohibits federal funding to schools that choose not to offer facilities to Boy Scout troops because of their discriminatory policy banning gay scouts.

If the Helms language had survived the conference, it might have withheld funding from schools that elected not to sponsor Boy Scout troops, which is a process that is much more expansive than allowing equal access. But in the conference committee, this provision was eliminated, mitigating the potential damage of the amendment.

"While we are disappointed and would have preferred the complete elimination of this amendment," said HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg, "Senator Kennedy's efforts have significantly diminished the most harmful aspects of the original Helm's language."

The courts have already ruled that school districts must allow the Boy Scouts to have equal access to public facilities, just like any other group.

But school districts are still entitled to deny the Boy Scouts special benefits not offered to other groups. For instance, as a U.S. District Court explained in a Florida case involving the Boy Scouts, local school districts are not required to "endorse, participate, or solicit others to participate in Boy Scouts activities."

What the Helms amendment sought to do is intimidate school officials into continuing to offer the Boy Scouts these special privileges, even if their discriminatory policy conflicts with a community's values and standards, says HRC. But the House-Senate compromise stripped the bill of this provision and left sponsorship to the discretion of the schools.

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Additionally, HRC worked with its allies in Congress to successfully remove a specific reference to homosexuality that was present in the original language.

"The provision now applies to the Boy Scouts and other youth groups whose membership or leadership criteria is based on a number of issues," said Stachelberg. "It is no longer sexual orientation specific."