CONTACTStaffCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2024 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
The California supreme court has said it will review the city of Berkeley's decision to discontinue free berthing at a public marina for a group affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America. The justices agreed during a private conference Wednesday to hear the Sea Scouts' challenge. The nonprofit group is fighting a 1998 city decision that made it ineligible for free docking because of its membership and leadership policies barring gays. Other nonprofits are permitted to berth at the Berkeley marina without charge. After being forced to pay $516 per month for its boats, the Sea Scouts sued the city, but the lower courts ruled against the group. In its appeal, the group maintains that if Berkeley is going to provide free berthing to nonprofits, it cannot deny free access to nonprofits whose views run counter to those of city hall. The Sea Scouts stopped receiving free marina access after Berkeley city council members passed a 1997 ordinance prohibiting the city from subsidizing groups that discriminate. The city had provided free berthing to the group for about six decades because the group let Berkeley use rocks from a Boy Scout camp for fill in the marina. Sea Scouts maintained that Berkeley's revocation of that privilege infringed on its free association rights and rights of free speech. In dismissing that argument, an appeals court ruled that Berkeley's actions did not violate the group's rights because the group remained free to discriminate against gays. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that the Boys Scouts of America and its affiliates can bar gays from joining scout troops and becoming scout leaders. "Berkeley's actions have not required appellants to stop discriminating," the appeals court said in the ruling the justices agreed to review.
Want more breaking equality news & trending entertainment stories?
Check out our NEW 24/7 streaming service: the Advocate Channel!
Download the Advocate Channel App for your mobile phone and your favorite streaming device!
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Meet all 37 of the queer women in this season's WNBA
April 17 2024 11:24 AM
Here are the 15 gayest travel destinations in the world: report
March 26 2024 9:23 AM
21+ steamy photos of Scotland’s finest gay men in Elska Glasgow
February 01 2024 10:07 PM
More Than 50 of Our Favorite LGBTQ+ Moms
May 12 2024 11:44 AM
Conjoined twins Lori Schappell and trans man George Schappell dead at 62
April 27 2024 6:13 PM
Latest Stories
Joe Biden sends queer lawmakers & LGBTQ+ allies to Paris Olympics
July 24 2024 12:08 PM
Kamala Harris rides wave of Democratic energy at kickoff event in Wisconsin
July 23 2024 3:36 PM
'Devastated:' A six-week abortion ban will go into effect in Iowa next week
July 23 2024 2:28 PM
Four hours, 44,000 Black women, and one Zoom call
July 23 2024 2:17 PM
Record 1.2 million people show out for Cologne’s Pride parade
July 23 2024 10:51 AM
Here's how far-right activist Leonard Leo helped fund Bud Light boycott
July 23 2024 10:27 AM