Philly loses Boy Scout case; taxpayers are forced to subsidize bigotry

The jury's verdict came in yesterday in the federal court case involving the Boy Scouts vs. the City of Philadelphia. The news was not good.

The jury ruled in the Scouts' favor. This means that Philadelphia taxpayers must continue to subsidize the Boy Scouts' rent-free occupation of a city-owned building despite the fact that the Scouts' anti-gay policy violates Philly's anti-discrimination charter.

What it boils down to is this: Philadelphia taxpayers are forced to continue subsidizing bigotry.

What's even worse is that Philadelphia's gay taxpayers are forced to continue subsidizing the city presence of a group that considers them to be second-class citizens, unworthy of Scout membership, simply because of who they are and who they happen to be attracted to -- and nothing more.

Then, to add insult to injury, the Scouts are going to ask the judge to force the city to pay the Scouts' legal expenses, which total more than $800,000.

I hope that the city will file an appeal.