Philadelphia Mayor Resists Call to Back Off Boy Scouts Deal

Michael Nutter, mayor of Philadelphia, is standing by an agreement to sell a city-owned building to the Boy Scouts of America to settle a legal fight over the organization’s policy of excluding gays, writes the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Gay and lesbian leaders have called on the Nutter administration to keep the building or sell it to another entity rather than endorse a deal they say allows the scouts’ local Cradle of Liberty Council to discriminate against homosexuals.

The city tried to evict the council from the building, which it occupied rent-free, for violating Philadelphia’s anti-discrimination statutes. The scouts sued, saying the eviction violated their First Amendment rights, and last year won in federal court, leading to the settlement.

Mel Heifetz, a local philanthropist, has offered to buy the building for $1-million, double the sale price to the Boy Scouts, but Mayor Nutter, meeting this week with gay leaders, said the property “is not for sale. … If you were selling your house, and you had an agreement with someone, you are not allowed to go and entertain someone else’s offer.”