1. The American Civil Rights Union, the sponsoring organization of the Scouting Legal Defense Fund, filed two amicus briefs in support of the Scouts in the landmark case, Boy Scouts of America v. Dale. This is the Supreme Court case which was decided in the Scout's favor and upheld their right to exclude openly homosexual men from serving as scoutmasters. You can read our "Brief in Support of Petitioners Petition for a Writ of Certiorari." Also posted is our "Brief in Support of Petitioners."

2. Preparing an amicus brief in the suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against the City of San Diego. The ACLU is attempting to oust the Scouts from a camp in Balboa Park that the Scouts have used since 1920. The ACLU contends that the city cannot lease the land to the Scouts because the Scouts discriminate against homosexuals. This case may set a significant precedent. The Fund will support the right of the city to continue this lease.

3. Investigating whether local United Way organizations are violating the law when they cut off funding for local scout councils based on the Scouts' refusal to permit openly-homosexual men to serve as scoutmasters. Some local United Way organizations have already cut off funding for the Scouts for this reason and others are under pressure to do so. If it appears that these local groups are violating the law, the Scouting Legal Defense Fund will take appropriate follow-up actions.

4. Establishing the United Way and corporate Watch Lists to publicize those which have cut off funding the Scouts because of the Scouts policy of excluding openly homosexual men from serving as scoutmasters. The United Way list is the largest and most accurate list of those local organizations that have cut off funding the Scouts and currently lists 58 of the 1400 local United Ways in this category. The corporate list is just in the beginning stages of development. You can access the Watch Lists by clicking here.

5. The Fund publishes the "Defend Scouting Newsletter," a monthly e-newsletter which summarizes the victories and defeats in the effort to defend Scouting around the country. It also reports on the specific activities of the Defense Fund. This is the most complete and comprehensive publication of its kind available to the public and the media. Click here to go to the archive of these e-newsletters.

6. Representatives of the Defense Fund are active in a variety of public education efforts in defense of Scouting. They make numerous media appearances and speeches around the country and author articles and letters to the editor. See, for example, the article written by Chairman Ed Meese that appeared in the July 2001 issue of the 2.2 million- circulation American Legion Magazine.

7. In June of 2001, the public television stations around the country aired a very biased and anti-Scout program entitled "Scouts Honor." The Scouting Legal Defense Fund took the lead nationwide in protesting this use of taxpayer funds and public facilities for such a program. Our efforts alone generated thousands of emails and letters in protest, both to the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and to the Independent Television Service, which produced the show. In addition, many copies went to congressmen and senators as well. You can read our letter to the head of PBS here.

8. The Fund undertook a major public education effort on the Helm-Hilleary amendment to the major education legislation signed into law late last year. This amendment required cutting off federal funds to any school district which discriminated against the Scouts based on their policy to exclude openly homosexual men from serving as scoutmasters. The anchor of that effort was a separate Web site, www.voteforscouts.com which gave people an easy, one step way to send an e-mail to the President and Congress in support of the amendment and register their support. While the site is no longer directly accessible on the Internet, you can view it by clicking here.