Source: The Denver Rocky Mountain News
On October 11, 2000, The Denver Rocky
Mountain News reported that "Rabbi Steven Foster of Temple Emanuel
returned his Boy Scout medals Tuesday in protest over the group's ban on
gays. 'I felt it was appropriate to resign from the Eagle Scouts because
of the discrimination against atheists and gays,' he said. 'It's a simple
matter for me. I don't think it's appropriate to be associated, for
myself, with an organization that chooses discrimination.'
"Tom
Fitzgibbon, chief executive director of Boy Scouts of America, Denver Area
Council, said he was disappointed. 'We're extremely sorry that he feels
the way he does,' Fitzgibbon said. 'It's his prerogative to make that
statement.' But he also said that one person out of more than a million
Boy Scout alumni won't make much of an impact. In the Denver Area Council,
about 46,000 youths are involved with Boy Scouts, with 11,000 adult
volunteers. Foster made the announcement Sunday during Yom Kippur services
at Temple Emanuel. 'I hope that it would inspire others to do the same
thing,' Foster said Tuesday. 'I hope that it would encourage the Boy
Scouts to rethink their position. After all, why do they discriminate
against people?'"