August 4, 1999
Web posted at: 11:03 a.m. EDT (1503 GMT)

TRENTON, New Jersey (CNN) -- The New Jersey Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the Boy Scouts of America cannot ban gays from its membership.

The court upheld a lower court decision, which ruled that the Boy Scouts had violated the civil rights of James Dale when it expelled him from the organization because he is homosexual.

In 1998, in the case of Dale vs. Boy Scouts of America, a state appeals court had struck down the Boy Scouts' policy of banning gay scouts from the organization. The lower court ruling stated that the Boy Scouts is a public accommodation, and that Dale's removal was a violation of his civil rights.

Dale was removed as an assistant scoutmaster in Matawan, New Jersey, in 1990 after an 11-year scouting career. Dale had earned 30 merit badges and had achieved scouting's highest rank before he received a letter in 1990 saying that he was being removed from the scouting group. He was 19 at the time.

His homosexuality had become public in the 1980s when he was active in the Lesbian-Gay Alliance at Rutgers University, where he was a student.

On hearing of Wednesday's decision, Dale told CNN, "It is what I always wanted. The Boy Scouts are not about bigotry, they are better than that. And I'm glad the Supreme Court has agreed with that."

Dale, now 29, works for a magazine for HIV-positive people. His lawyers argued that the Boy Scout policy violated New Jersey law against discrimination.

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