A battle between Philadelphia and it its local Boy Scouts council is likely to end this month, when the scouts' lease on their 80-year home at 22nd and Winter Streets runs out May 31.
The building, built and maintained by the scouts over the last 80 years, sits on city property and has previously cost them $1 per year to occupy.
However, if the Philadelphia Boy Scouts council, called Cradle of Liberty, hopes to retain the building, it must agree to pay market rate rent - about $200,000, according to city officials.
At issue is a Boy Scouts' national policy toward homosexual men, who are barred from serving in leadership positions in the organization.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that private organizations that discriminate cannot freely use taxpayer-supported property.
However, Philadelphia Scouts haven't given up hope that they'll have to leave.
"We are hoping we may be able to find some resolution with the city," Cradle of Liberty Council spokeswoman Kera Walter said. "We are certainly hoping we might be able to find some middle ground."
She added that the council has "never discriminated a scout for being openly homosexual. We do not discriminate."
The Philadelphia council released a non-discrimination policy in 2003, but the Boy Scouts National Council forced them to rescind it.
"The Boy Scouts have made clear that they don't feel that they have the discretion to deviate from the [national] policy," said City Solicitor Shelley Smith. "By declaring their obligation to adhere to it, they are violating the anti-discrimination ordinance."
Some in the LGBT community find the Boy Scouts' policy problematic.
Erin Cross, associate director of Penn's LGBT Center, said the policy means its members are "being raised to affirm heterosexuality and not talk about anything else . [they] won't learn about other possibilities, some of which may apply to boys in the program."
College freshman Seth Bluestein, a longtime Boy Scout, said he enjoyed his experiences as a scout.
But, as seen in the leasing issue, "a lot of bad discriminatory policies are based on financial decisions," he said.
Bluestein added that he thinks all boys should be able to have the same opportunity with the Boy Scouts.
"Their sexual orientation has no bearing on their ability to be a good scout," he said.
- Staff writer Daniel Zinshteyn contributed reporting to this article.
