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James Dale |
August
Meeting: James Dale
On
August 15, AEN is proud to have as its speaker, James Dale.
For those who do not know him, James Dale spent most of his young
life working with the Boy Scouts of America. He ultimately achieved
the rank of Eagle Scout and volunteered as an assistant scoutmaster
until he was expelled in 1990 after being featured in a Rutgers
University student newspaper as a gay youth leader. His lawsuit
against the Boy Scouts ultimately reached the Supreme Court, which
upheld the ban on gays as an essential right of private organizations.
As
a Rutgers University sophomore Dale was elected co-president of
the gay student union and spoke to high school teachers about
reducing the risk of teen suicide. Days after being quoted in
a local newspaper, Dale received a letter stating that he no longer
met the Boy Scout's standards of morality.
Although
only 19 years old, Dale followed his core beliefs and contacted
the non-profit civil rights group Lambda Legal Defense, who filed
his suit for reinstatement into the Boy Scouts. After many delays
in the legal system the case grew stronger when New Jersey expanded
its non-discrimination law.
In
a 1995 decision against Dale, a judge called him a "sodomite"
and generated national attention as he quoted from the Bible,
declaring homosexuality "criminal and immoral." That ruling was
overturned in 1998 by a state appellate court and one year later
the New Jersey Supreme Court handed down a landmark civil rights
decision, ruling unanimously that anti-gay discrimination violated
state law.
The
Boy Scouts appealed their loss to the U.S. Supreme Court on First
Amendment freedom of association grounds, and Dale's case was
heard on the last day of the 1999-2000 term. Two months later,
a deeply divided Court ruled 5-4 that the Scouts had the right
to expel gay youth and leaders. The one-vote majority stated that
the Scouts' right to "free association" would be violated if the
organization were forced to admit those who disagree with Scouting
values, as defined by the national board of the Boy Scouts of
America.
Since
the ruling, corporations, schools and individual citizens have
begun to disassociate themselves from the Boy Scouts of America,
continuing to stand up in a show of support for gay and lesbian
civil rights. Many religious and deeply conservative organizations
have redoubled their efforts to support the Boy Scouts of America,
but the pinch is being felt as many refuse to participate in active
discrimination against gay and bisexual men. Courts in many states
have upheld the rights of these individuals and organizations
to disassociate themselves from the Boy Scouts' mindless anti-homosexual
bigotry.
Today,
James Dale lives in New York City and works as the vice president
of a healthcare publishing company. He also serves on advisory
boards of GenderPAC and the global YouthAIDS initiative. Dale
regularly speaks to universities and business about personal empowerment
and the social marketing of civil rights and HIV prevention. He
recently documented his travels to Egypt in an article in the
Advocate magazine.
Doors
open at the Sheraton Colony Square Hotel at 5:45 p.m.
Lambda
Legal: Boy
Scouts of America v. Dale
Dale's
article in The Advocate: In
search of gay Egypt
Several of the images even appeared in Ken Burns' documentary,
Jazz. |
AEN
meeting captures horror of chapter in history
If
you missed the July AEN meeting, you missed what can only be described
as one of the most poignant and emotional events that AEN has
sponsored.
AEN,
in conjunction with In
the Life Atlanta, Emory
University, Black
and White Men Together, and the Human
Rights Campaign, organized a private viewing of the photo
exhibit "Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America."
The exhibit is a rare exhibition documenting the story of American
lynchings from the 1880's to the 1960's. AEN's Diversity Committee
brought these local groups together to help organize the viewing,
a presentation and a reception.
The
photographs and postcards came from several southern states, including
Georgia, which ranks second-highest among states in the number
of recorded lynchings.
According
to a media release provided by the Martin Luther King National
Historic Site, which housed the collection, the exhibit "bears
stark witness to a not-so-distant period in American history when
lynchings and mob violence were synonymous with law and order.
These images depict lynching scenes with victims oftentimes surrounded
by gazing onlookers of all ages in a celebratory atmosphere. More
shocking are the postcards of lynchings, once circulated through
U.S. mail and preserve as souvenirs and remnants of the time.
All exist today as a reminder of an era that has survived as a
repressed memory in the American conscience."
James Allen, pictured, and his partner John
Littlefield have collected over 140 photographs and postcards. |
The
co-collector of the exhibit, James Allen, delivered a moving
presentation about the exhibit, the environment under which many
of the lynchings occurred, and a description of how they occurred
that was particularly vivid coming after a viewing of the photo
collection AEN had just reviewed.
Allen
later recalled that his presentation before the AEN meeting was
the first time that he was allowed to speak in Atlanta about the
exhibit at length, and without interruption.
AEN
would like to thank all of the groups who joined us to make our
last meeting possible, and to all of the individuals who joined
us at the meeting.
 Pictures:
AEN's July
Meeting
Web site: 'Without
Sanctuary'
Announcements
|
Next
Meeting
> Thursday,
August 15
James Dale
5:45 p.m.
Sheraton Colony Square
September
Meeting
> Thursday,
Sept. 19
Rep. Karla Drenner
Georgia Gen. Assembly
5:45 p.m
Sheraton Colony Square
October
Meeting
> Thursday,
Oct. 17
Cathy Cox
Georgia Sec. of State
5:45 p.m
Sheraton Colony Square
Luncheons
Reservations
»
>
Monday, August 12
David Payne & Ronald Moore
Chequers, 11:30 a.m.
Monday,
August 12
David Payne & Ronald Moore
Chequers, 11:30 a.m.
Tuesday,
August 13
Allen Jones
Houlihan's, Colony Square
11:55 a.m.
Thursday,
August 29
Allen Jones
Houlihan's, Colony Square
11:55 a.m.
Founded
in 1992, AEN's mission is to:
• Enhance
business contacts and friendships through networking
• Eliminate
discrimination and promote diversity in the workplace
• And
foster leadership in business, government and the arts.
Board
Members
Steve
Koval, President
David Payne, Vice President
Joe Guthridge, Treasurer
Ann McAllister, Secretary
Margie Archer
Bonnie Barton
Jamie Ensley
Don George
Patrick Greco
Sandy Hoke
Carl Lange
Ronald Moore
Gregory Nance
Newsletter
Editor
Jason Cecil
Webmaster
Drew Barton
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