Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, March 2, 1992                   TAG: 9203020052
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA SWIRSKY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BOY SCOUT COUNCIL UPHOLDS BAN ON GAYS

That was the response of Boy Scout officials to the hoopla created over a California troop that defied a national policy that bans gays.

"We basically plan to follow the policy of the Boy Scouts of America," said Dan Clifton, scout executive for the Blue Ridge Mountains Council, which serves Roanoke.

The criticism of Boy Scouts of America came from United Way officials in the San Francisco Bay area. On Feb. 20, directors of the Bay Area United Way gave local Boy Scout councils 45 days to recind their exclusion of homosexuals or lose their funding.

In a statement last week, United Way of Roanoke Valley said the San Francisco decision "in no way affects the United Way of Roanoke Valley's relationship with the Boy Scout council which operates in this area."

The Blue Ridge Mountains Council will receive more than $140,000 this year from the United Way of Roanoke Valley, according to the statement.

The national policy excludes gays as Scouts and leaders, based on a passage of the Boy Scout oath in which members promise to be "morally straight." Boy Scout leaders traditionally have interpreted this to mean their members must be heterosexual.

Last week, Boy Scouts of America renewed the charter of the troop that defied the policy against gays.

Leaders of San Jose, Calif., Troop 260 had adopted a resolution in December stating they would not reject any members based on sexual preference. The troop initially was threatened with loss of its charter unless it complied with the national policy.

Boy Scout officials allowed the group to remain affiliated as long as it agreed not to actively seek "known or avowed homosexuals."

The national organization insists that the action does not contradict its policy and says any troop that admits known homosexuals will have its charter revoked.

"Scouting has supported traditional American family in conveying values," said Boy Scouts national spokesman Blake Lewis. "Accordingly, we have determined that homosexuals do not provide a role model consistent with these values."