At issue is a 1928 lease that made available to the scouts a half-acre of city land at 22d and Winter Streets, about a block from Logan Square, for $1 a year. In 2007, after years of negotiations, the city said it would not subsidize discrimination and ordered the Cradle of Liberty Council to vacate the property or start paying $200,000 a year in rent.
The scouts say that violated their right to free speech and due process.
"The city wants you to give the Boy Scouts the back of your hand," said the Scouts' attorney, William M. McSwain of Drinker Biddle & Reath L.L.P.
McSwain recited a long list of contributions that the scouts make to Philadelphia, including an annual food drive that last year collected 2.5 million items. About 15,000 Philadelphians are active in scouting, he said, and most do not have cars to travel to the scouts' suburban office near Valley Forge.
"All the benefits I've described are connected to that beautiful building," McSwain said.
He compared the scouts' legal right to ban homosexuals to the right of a Catholic church, operating rent-free on city land in Pennypack Park, to ban homosexuals from the priesthood.
Also, the scouts can't afford the rent, McSwain said. But a lawyer for the city told jurors that the organization has $26 million in assets, including about $14 million in cash and securities.
However, it was McSwain's accusations that city policy was driven by gay rights activists – led by Arthur Kaplan, a prominent litigator now semi-retired – that drew the most heated response.
McSwain cited e-mail messages showing that Kaplan and other activists coordinated strategy with former City Solicitor Romulo L. Diaz Jr.
