(Charlottesville,
Va., March 29, 2000) ---
Two representatives of Gays and Lesbians for Individual Liberty (GLIL) will
speak at the University of Virginia on Thursday, March 30, to explain why the
organization defends the constitutional rights of the Boy Scouts to exclude
openly gay Scout leaders from their ranks. Odell Huff, executive vice president
of GLIL, and Dana Berliner, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, will
speak at the event, sponsored by Students for Individual Liberty (S.I.L.), at
7:30 p.m. in the Minor Hall Auditorium on the main grounds of the University
of Virginia in Charlottesville.
GLIL's brief was filed in the case of Boy Scouts of America v. James Dale, which
was appealed to the nation's highest court after the New Jersey Supreme Court
ruled last August that the Boy Scouts may not exclude gay men from leadership
positions.
Since the brief was filed on February 28, GLIL has won praise for its efforts
from unexpected sources.
In his syndicated column on March 26, which appears in the Charlottesville Daily
Progress and 500 other newspapers, George F. Will wrote that "GLIL, warning
against creeping infringement'of freedom of association, notes that gay organizations
often seek and administer gay environments,' including clubs, retreats, vacations
and professional and alumni organizations. America needs a livelier understanding
of the arithmetic of rights that GLIL understands: Multiplying rights, such
as the right of a gay to be a Scoutmaster, can mean a net subtraction from freedom."
Veteran columnist James J. Kilpatrick also commented, in an article appearing
in the Raleigh News & Observer on March 16: "Remarkably, the most eloquent
brief comes from Gays and Lesbians for Individual Liberty. It says, The New
Jersey Supreme Court's decision restricting the ability of the Boy Scouts of
America to choose its own leaders and define its own membership criteria dangerously
erodes the freedom of all Americans, including gay Americans, and should be
reversed.' I find myself in complete sympathy with that point of view also."
Debra Saunders, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, noted in that paper's
March 7 editions: "The award for true tolerance goes to Gays and Lesbians
for Individual Liberty. What a joy to find advocates who push for the right
to free association, not just for themselves, but for others."
Gays and Lesbians for Individual Liberty was founded in February 1991 to advance the ideas of economic and personal freedom and individual responsibility. It has members across the United States and in several foreign countries. For more information, visit http://www.glil.org or telephone 202-903-5555.
-30-
This
Page Last Updated on
Saturday, 6 July, 2002 21:10