The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City ruled on July 10th against the Boy Scouts and in favor of a Connecticut homosexual rights law. According to the decision, Connecticut can keep the Boy Scouts off its list of charities receiving donations collected from state workers because the Scouts’ ban on homosexuals violates the state’s anti-discrimination law.

The Boy Scouts of America and its Connecticut Rivers Council filed a federal lawsuit three years ago after a committee overseeing the annual workplace charitable campaign in state offices determined that the Boy Scouts were no longer eligible to participate. The unanimous Circuit Court decision rejected claims by the Boy Scouts that their exclusion from the charitable campaign violated their First Amendment right to free expression. The decision, written for the three-judge panel by Judge Guido Calabresi, former Yale Law School dean, also held that the state committee’s actions "were a reasonable means of furthering Connecticut’s legitimate interest in preventing conduct that discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation."

It’s interesting that the court found Connecticut’s recent law promoting homosexuality to be advancing a legitimate state interest. This follows closely on the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 26th decision overturning a longstanding Texas law barring sodomy because it allegedly "furthers no legitimate state interest."