Gay man and former scout testifies in Philadelphia
Posted by wac14

An openly gay man who was ejected from the Boy Scouts testified in a Philadelphia court Monday.

Greg Lattera joined the Boy Scouts when he was 10 and when he was 18, he announced he is gay at a televised press conference. He was wearing his Boy Scout uniform, which was decorated in 32 badges when he came out, and weeks later, he received an expulsion letter from the Boy Scouts of America.

Lattera claims that he was expelled for coming out, though in court yesterday, he said he did not want to be portrayed as the “poster child for gay rights.”

Is his testimony, Lattera, now 25, said, “I broke down and cried. It was like a part of me was taken away. It broke my heart. I loved the Scouts. I still do.”

In an interview with PhillyNow, Lattera said that his expulsion “gives kids the wrong idea, if kids are old enough to understand that. We’re taught the oath: trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous. Well, now the organization says, ‘If you’re gay, you can’t play.’ But it’s still a great organization for everything else that it does. I wouldn’t change anything from everything I got out of it.”

Bill McSwain who is representing the Cradle of Liberty Council, Philadelphia’s chapter of the Boy Scouts of America, said that Lattera was expelled for breaking the scout restrictions on the use of the uniform. He said that according the Boy Scouts of America Rules and Regulations, a scout may only use a uniform in scout-related or approved events.

McSwain told PhillyNow, “Sexuality is not something the Boy Scouts teach or focus on. They focus on teaching the boys to grow into young men. And the Cradle doesn’t particularly care if someone is heterosexual or homosexual, that’s more of a personal thing,”

The case in Philadelphia is over the $1-a-year lease that the city grants to the Cradle. The city is seeking to have the troop pay market rent at $200,000 a year for the city-owned space, or for them to renounce the national Boy Scout policy banning out gay boys. 

Although the US Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the Boy Scouts, as a private organization, could legally restrict membership, Philadelphia has a non-discrimination policy that protects discrimination on the basis of sexual-orientation.

The Cradle of Liberty Council is negotiating how to maintain its severely reduced rent with the city while simultaneously remaining a member of the national Boy Scouts Association.

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