Opinion ID: 1897530
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Have Boy Scouts Violated the LAD?

Text: N.J.S.A. 10:5-4 states that [a]ll persons shall have the opportunity to obtain... all the accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of any place of public accommodation. Because we hold that an assistant scoutmaster position is a privilege and an advantage of Boy Scout membership, and because Boy Scouts has revoked Dale's registration based on his avowed homosexuality, a prohibited form of discrimination under the statute, we conclude that Boy Scouts has violated the LAD. In Dale's revocation letter, Boy Scouts expressly stated that BSA membership registration is a privilege. Boy Scouts has also taken the position that adult membership and adult leadership are interchangeable in the scouting world. See supra at 577, 734 A. 2d at 1204. Boy Scouts' statements raise the question whether the organization has waived its right to challenge Dale's claim that he has been denied a privilege within the meaning of the LAD. We find, nonetheless, that Boy Scout membership is both a privilege and advantage. The organization provides its members with numerous benefits, including opportunities to participate in group activities and to develop a variety of skills, e.g., camping, cooking, first aid, lifesaving. Boy Scout leaders are given the advantage of numerous training courses that teach valuable lessons in leadership and management. Scouting indirectly benefits its members through the advantage of a large influential network, including Air Force Academy, Annapolis and West Point graduates, Rhodes Scholars, astronauts, United States Presidents and Congressmen, as well as businessmen and community leaders. Indeed, Boy Scouts advertises the privileges and advantages of being a member in order to attract new members. [11] See id. at 590, 734 A. 2d at 1211. It is undeniable that Dale lost those privileges and advantages when he was expelled. It necessarily follows that Boy Scouts violated the LAD when it expelled him.