A group of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts from Japan found the welcome mat at Berkeley City Hall
yanked out from under them yesterday after a city council member objected to the Boy Scouts of
America's policy on gays. The meeting at City Hall was to have been the ceremonial highlight of
a week long visit to the United States for 38 Scouts from Sakai, Berkeley's sister city in Japan.
"I feel it's very unfortunate because the children are innocent in all this, " said an American
organizer of the program who asked not to be identified.
The Japanese visitors apparently were not told why they were barred from meeting at City
Hall. The Scouts left in the lurch are here for a biannual exchange program. Following tradition
going back many years, they had been scheduled to meet yesterday morning with Mayor Shirley
Dean at City Hall, where they were to present an official proclamation from the mayor of Sakai.
The gathering would have included Boy and Girl Scouts from the Berkeley area, who are hosting
the Japanese Scouts. Japanese Scouts have no policy against gays, and the U.S. Girl Scouts
officially ban discrimination. But the U.S. Boy Scouts' ban on openly gay leaders has roiled
scouting ranks in recent years.
Dean canceled the event after Kriss Worthington, a gay member of the council, said city
property should not host an organization that discriminates. Instead the Scouts are scheduled to
meet with the mayor later outside the city at a location that Dean and organizers have kept secret.
Dean said she wanted to avoid having the Japanese visitors "be embarrassed or subjected to any
problems." City Manager Weldon Rucker supported the decision to move the event out of City
Hall, Dean said. And Courtney Radsch, a spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of the San Francisco
Bay Area, said, "We're just happy that the mayor can meet (later) with the Boy Scouts and Girl
Scouts from Japan."
"It's a non-story," said Dean, adding that the meeting is rescheduled for Friday at a private
location in El Cerrito.
WRENCHING DEBATE
Berkeley went through a wrenching debate on the Boy Scouts' gay policy three years ago, when
the City Council ended a 60-year tradition of providing free docking space to the Sea Scouts. City
policy forbids subsidies for any group that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation as well
as race, gender and other factors. The carrying of letters from one mayor to the other by the
Scouts has been a tradition of the Berkeley-Sakai sister-city program for many years. The
presentation has always been at the City Hall of each city, said Denise Glaude, a leader in the
Berkeley-Albany Girl Scouts. This is the 22nd year for the Boy Scout exchange program and the
20th for the Girl Scouts, she said. Asked about the reaction from the Japanese visitors, Glaude
said, "They just said, 'Oh.' "
Kevin Takei, chairman of the Boy Scouts hosting committee here, said the visitors were not told
the reason for the cancellation. "That's what we told them -- the mayor had to cancel. They didn't
ask why," he said. "I think the most important thing is for them to present the letter of greeting
from Sakai to the mayor of Berkeley."
The Japanese Scouts and their leaders could not be reached for comment.
PUSH FOR FLYERS
Worthington said he would like to know the location of the meeting later in the week, because he
would like to give flyers to the Scouts saying Berkeley does not condone discrimination and
asking them to oppose the Boy Scouts of America policy. Worthington had also wanted such
flyers given to the Scouts if they had come to City Hall. Dean and organizers reached yesterday
said they prefer not to disclose the location.
George Fosselius, who is assisting the Boy Scouts, said two places are under consideration and
that the adults want to protect the youth from "embarrassment" and unwanted intrusion into their
cultural exchange and scouting activities.
Dean said some of the Scouts are too young to be confronted with the issue. "Some of them are
10 and 12 years old." But she said she will "absolutely" answer any questions honestly and fully if
she is asked. Worthington, who recently declared his candidacy for the state Assembly,
disagreed, saying, "There is no age too young to learn that sexism, racism and homophobia are
unacceptable."
Because of their policies, Boy Scouts have been evicted from some public facilities around the
country in recent years. Scouting parents and leaders are increasingly calling on the national Boy
Scouts organization to repeal its policy.
At the Berkeley-Albany annual Solano Avenue Stroll last September, parents accompanying a
contingent of Cub Scouts carried a banner saying, "Berkeley Scout Parents Say No to
Homophobia."
The U.S. Supreme Court last summer upheld the Boy Scouts' policy on gays, but that did not end
the controversy. Just last week, the Boy Scouts' plight made the cover of Newsweek, which
reported, "Americans are increasingly torn over a beloved institution."
