Curran v. Mount Diablo Council of the Boy Scouts of America

In a related case in New Jersey, James Dale, a Boy Scout since the age of eight, who later became an Eagle Scout and assistant scoutmaster, sued after he was expelled by the Monmouth Council of the Boy Scouts in 1990 for being gay. In 1995 a New Jersey superior court upheld the refusal of the Boy Scouts to admit an avowed homosexual to a Scout leadership position. Dale alleged that his dismissal violated New Jersey laws forbidding discrimination in places of public accommodation. The court held that the Boy Scouts was not a place of public accommodation, but a private entity promoting certain moral concepts and values. The court also noted that not everyone has the right to become a Boy Scout. Those who want to join must conform to the conditions of membership. Judge Patrick J. McGann called the Boy Scouts "a moral organization" and described homosexuality as "a serious moral wrong." The court said that because the group is a private organization, it has a constitutional right to decide who can belong.

The appellate division of the state superior court overruled this decision on 2 March 1998. The court held that the Boy Scouts must follow New Jersey's antidiscrimination law. The decision stated: "There is absolutely no evidence before us, empirical or otherwise, supporting a conclusion that a gay scoutmaster, solely because he is a homosexual, does not posses the strength of character necessary to properly care for, or to impart BSA humanitarian ideals to the young boys in his charge." The BSA planed to file an appeal with the New Jersey Supreme Court.