The City of Philadelphia said that it cannot allow organizations that receive city benefits to discriminate and planned to evict the local Scout council from their city-owned service center building on the
Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Similar city owned land was used by other organizations such as churches which have a religious test for the participants. The Historic Landmark building laden with Scouting symbols was built and paid for by the Scouts on city land at the city's request in 1929 and the cost of maintenance and renovation has been borne by the Boy Scout council ever since. The Council claimed: The Boy Scouts of America is a private, non-profit organization engaged in instilling its system of values in young people. It formerly asserted that open homosexuality by leaders is inconsistent with those values. The Scouts contend that the city's ultimatum violates their rights under the U.S. and Pennsylvania Constitutions, namely, the right to
Freedom of Assembly guaranteed under the
First Amendment to the United States Constitution. In 2003, the City of Philadelphia, under the leadership of Mayor
John F. Street, indicated that council's policies violated the city's 1982 Fair Practices law. This effort to have the Scouts change their policy or be evicted was led by R. Duane Perry, an Eagle Scout The Boy Scouts of America formerly maintained an official policy of barring "
avowed homosexuals" from leadership; Cradle of Liberty, however, had adopted a non-discrimination policy. The
BSA National Office sent Cradle of Liberty a
cease-and-desist letter which threatened dissolution of the council if it failed to adopt the policies set forth by the National office, and the council rescinded its non-discrimination policy at the annual BSA meeting. Philadelphia, whose city charter bylaws prohibit discrimination against all individuals, including anti-gay discrimination, owns the land on which the council headquarters building stands and rents it to the council for $1 annually. Similar deals are given to other non-profits, including churches that have religious tests for their leadership. In July 2006, Mayor Street again told the council to either change its policy, pay fair market rent or leave the city-owned Marks Scout Resource Center. The city said that providing the city-owned property rent-free to the council violates Philadelphia's anti-discrimination laws. The BSA fought the city's decision. However, citing "rising violence and other urban ills daily threatening Philadelphia's teens," some community leaders said it made no sense to evict the Boy Scouts. Also, some questioned the objectivity of city solicitor Romulo L. Diaz, Jr., himself openly gay, in moving to evict the Scouts but not worrying about similar deals with churches who restrict attendance to members. - arguing that the city could lose $62 million in federal funds with the eviction because of the
Support Our Scouts Act of 2005 and the
Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act. This came despite the fact that the building itself was built and paid for by the Scouts, and given to the city with the understanding that the Scouts would be allowed to remain in it "in perpetuity." This would have left Philadelphia to become the largest city in the nation without its own council office. Street's successor, Mayor
Michael Nutter said in a televised debate on
NBC 10 Live @ Issue, "In my administration, we will not subsidize discrimination." Solicitor Diaz gave the Council until December 3, 2007 to comply with the city's demand. The Scouts indicated they would file suit, On November 20, 2009, the US District Court ordered the city to "immediately cease and desist" efforts in Common Pleas Court to evict the council from its headquarters while a federal lawsuit was pending. The ruling by Judge Buckwalter did not prevent the city from pursuing similar claims in the federal suit. ==Outcome==