News Release: Over 1200 Petition Signers Still Waiting to Hear From Philadelphia

American Family Association of Pennsylvania

http://www.afaofpa.org

 

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  January 2, 2008

CONTACT:  Diane Gramley  1.814.271.9078 or 1.814.437.5355

 

Over 1200 Petition Signers Are Still Waiting for Philadelphia Mayor John Street’s Response – will it come before he leaves office?

 

(Philadelphia) –  On December 13^th The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA) delivered 52 pages – over 1,200 names –  to Mayor John Street, City Council President Anna Verna and City Council Member Darrell Clark.  These were individuals from Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia Counties and all support the Cradle of Liberty Scout Council’s free-use of city-owned property in downtown Philadelphia.  Questions still remaining on the minds of all who signed the petition –

q     why pick on the Scouts

q     who’s really behind this outrageous effort to evict them

q     will Mayor Street leave office with this as his legacy or will he do the right thing and take a stand for the Scouts?

 

“This petition was put together very quickly and the response was great.  Many more would have signed, if given the chance. The vast majority of people support the Scouts and shake their head in disbelief when they hear of the City of Philadelphia’s plans to evict the Cradle of Liberty from the headquarters they built,” noted Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of PA. 

The disagreement continues as the City of Philadelphia shows true discrimination against the Boy Scouts by trying to force them to go against their policies protecting the boys in their charge.  Scout leaders know that having homosexual leaders does not set a good example for the boys and the Diocese of Philadelphia is a perfect example of whether it is safe to have homosexuals in close contact with teens.

When the priest sex abuse grand jury report on the Philadelphia Diocese was released in September 2005, the AFA of PA reviewed the over 400-page report and found that of the 28 'Selected Case Studies" listed in the report the victims of 23 priests were males ranging in age from 11-18 and the victims of two priests were both male and female.  This review also reveals the efforts by media to downplay the overall presence of male victims and concentrate on the three priests whose victims were strictly female and the two that victimized both male and female teens.  The idea of male on male sexual abuse of teens by homosexual priests was further supported by a 2004 survey by John Jay College of Criminal Justice which found that, of 10,667 individuals abused by priests between 1950 and 2002, 81 percent were male.

“The overall question has always been whether Mayor John Street and the members of the Philadelphia City Council care more about the protection of young men in the Boy Scouts or the efforts of homosexual activists to normalize their dangerous lifestyle,” further remarked Gramley.

The Cradle of Liberty’s anti-discrimination policy includes the statement, “Prejudice, intolerance and unlawful discrimination in any form are unacceptable within the ranks of Cradle of Liberty Council.”  But that’s not good enough for homosexual activists! 

The statewide traditional values group also noted that on November 15^th Mayor John Street again gave into the homosexual lobby when he signed an ordinance that gave same-sex couples a break in their realty transfer taxes. 

Previously only family members such as husband and wife, parent and child, brother and sister and grandparent and grandchild could avoid paying this 4-percent realty transfer tax.  The new Philadelphia ordinance will eliminate 3 of the 4 percentage points that would have been paid by unmarried same-sex and heterosexual couples during land transfers.

“Homosexual activists have been pushing for this break in realty transfer taxes for a long time.  I find it odd that the City extended this break to homosexuals – the ones pushing the hardest for the Boy Scouts eviction – just two weeks before the City-imposed December 1^st deadline for the Cradle of Liberty to sign a one year $200,000 lease.  With each passing day it becomes more clear who Philadelphia’s City Council and Mayor are listening to, apparently it is not those who support the Scouts and their policy banning homosexual leaders,” concluded Gramley.

 

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