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Scouting
out a loophole
A shudder went through the gay, lesbian and
bi-sexual community this summer when the United
States Supreme Court upheld the Boy Scouts
of America's right to exclude openly gay men
from scoutmaster leadership positions. This
is a 90-year-old American icon that has molded
the character of more than 87 million American
males. More than half of the members of the
current United States Congress have participated
in scouting activities, including five Washington
state representatives, according to the Boy
Scouts. A push in the House to revoke the
Scouts' 84-year-old federal charter got only
12 supporters.
The United Way of King County recently announced
a $442,000 grant for the Boy Scouts' Learning
for Life program, even though the charity's
own charter specifically prohibits support
for organizations that discriminate. Few nonprofits,
even those serving the gay community, are
likely to speak out against the decision;
the charity provides some with as much as
50 percent of their total funding.
Both United Way and members of Learning for
Life note that the program itself - described
as "character and emotional intelligence education"
for elementary through high school students
- does not exclude openly gay teachers from
participating. They say it has boosted the
self-esteem and motivation of approximately
20,000 students in more than 30 schools.
However, other United Way chapters have stuck
by their discrimination policy and not funded
any Boy Scout programs, including ones in
California, Connecticut, and Florida. Public
bodies have followed suit: the Fort Lauderdale
city council voted last month to rescind $4,000
in funding for local Learning for Life programs.
- Molly Rhodes
Portland strikes camping ban
A Multnomah County Circuit Court judge has
ruled that Portland's "Camping Ban" ordinance
is unconstitutional, arguing that it punishes
homeless people for being homeless, according
to an Associated Press report last month.
The ordinance has been on the books for 19
years in the Rose City.
Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Stephen
L. Gallagher Jr. ruled that the anti-camping
ordinance constitutes cruel and unusual punishment
and violates a homeless person's fundamental
right to travel. "There are a great number
of alternatives regarding housing, job training,
mental health services... that should be put
into place... before our city resorts to arresting
individuals for sleeping and eating in the
only locations available to them," Gallagher
wrote in his decision.
The case involved a homeless man and his son
ticketed the evening of February 10 while
they were parked on a residential street in
the truck they had been living in for the
past five years. All of Portland's available
shelter's were full on that evening, and the
temperature had dropped to 28 degrees.
The ordinance has been upheld against every
previous challenge. Portland Mayor Vera Katz
wants the city to appeal the ruling.
- Rick Giombetti
Mistaken identity
When Real Change vendor John B. Porter's
bank told him he had $42,000 in his bank account,
instead of the $5 he'd been expecting, he
"had a good laugh about it" over the July
4th weekend. On the first working day of the
week, he went back to the bank and got a financial
statement listing his home address in Aberdeen,
Washington. Porter lives at St. Martin de
Porres shelter in Seattle. He waited to talk
to a branch manager.
"As far as they were concerned, everything
was in order. I pointed out to the assistant
manager that my name, account number and address
were wrong on the bank statement," says Porter.
"At that point, he got mad."
"I called information, and got the number
for John Porter of Aberdeen, and he told me
he'd come up to Seattle to cancel his account.
He thanked me, and gave me $10 as a reward,"
he says, "which is understandable, because
his wife was sick and he's paying her medical
bills."
Washington Mutual was also grateful; they
called Porter up and asked what they could
do for him and his peers at the Lazarus Center,
a day center for homeless men. "I told them
I wanted a steak and lobster dinner for 300
people," he says. Whatever Lazarus couldn't
finish, he wanted sent over to St. Martin's.
"The president's secretary laughed, but they
did it, kind of. We ate steak on Sunday."
No word on whether John Porter of Aberdeen
ever canceled his account.
- Adam Holdorf
What they say
Virginia street newspaper Hard Times presented
each major-party candi-date with the opportunity
to respond to the following questions: What
are the causes of homelessness? How have you
addressed them? What would you do as president?
The following are their responses.
George W. Bush: "Like many Republican
governors, I enacted major welfare reform
before the federal government got around to
it. During my tenure, there has been a 54
percent decline in families on welfare in
Texas, while poverty has decreased 17 percent,
outpacing the national decrease. And the role
of faith-based organizations was expanded
to help welfare recipients become more self-sufficient.
"As President, I will rally these organizations
to help transition former welfare recipients
from dependency on government into meaningful
jobs. It's what I call the next bold step
in welfare reform. I will also dedicate about
$8 billion - an amount equal to 10 percent
of the non-Social Security surplus - to provide
new tax incentives for giving, and to support
charities and other private institutions.
"In our society, it is easy to be secluded
in success, in gated communities and separate
schools. Yet our growing nation must not be
allowed to grow apart. Since Abraham Lincoln,
our national task has been to build a single
nation - to cross boundaries of class and
race and region. We have accepted a moral
obligation to bring every American into the
mainstream of opportunity. It will be said
of our times that we were prosperous. But
let it also be said of us that we used our
wealth wisely."
Al Gore: "There is a right way to attack
this issue, and a wrong way. Some people have
decided it is easier to impose sanctions that
remove homeless people from the streets and
get them out of sight rather than struggle
with the hard business of developing solutions.
Being poor and homeless is not a crime in
America; it is a crisis.
"To end homelessness, we must combine housing
and equal opportunity with support and security.
Put plainly, to finish the job we need decent
wages, job training, childcare, and physical
and mental health care for people in need.
"In Congress, I co-sponsored the first piece
of legislation mobilizing federal resources
to address homelessness. As vice president,
I worked with HUD to revolutionize the way
communities respond to homelessness through
the Continuum of Care program. We won more
than $1 billion in additional money, 60,000
new housing vouchers for low-income families,
more housing assistance for the elderly and
disabled, and rent subsidies for hundreds
of thousands of low-income families. We have
also invested in childcare, afterschool programs,
children's health care, and job training and
job placement services. But we still need
to give millions of hardworking Americans
the pay raise they deserve.
"As President, I will expand comprehensive
programs to address homelessness. I will promote
the Department of Veterans Affairs' Homeless
Veterans Treatment Program by developing public
housing. I will support programs to treat
mental illness and drug addiction. And I believe
we should harness the power of faith-based
organizations to address these intractable
social problems."
Thanks to L. Lynn Hafer of Hard Times.
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