The Boy Scouts plan to argue that they are a private and “quasi-religious” organization that has the constitutional right to select leaders with the moral values they want to instill in their members. Their attorney, George Davidson, says the Scouts believe that being gay is inconsistent with the Boy Scout oath to be “morally straight.”
But Dale’s attorney, Evan Wolfson of the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, says the real issue is whether banning gays is essential to the Boy Scouts’ purpose; can they teach morality and have gay members? Wolfson points out that there is nothing in the handbook that says they don’t permit gay members or that their goal is to promote anti-gay beliefs; instead, he says, their stated ideals are inclusion and respect. The court will decide who’s in and who’s out.
