UPS ends Scout donations over gay policy

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SANDY SPRINGS, Ga., Nov. 13 (UPI) -- United Parcel Service will stop donating to the Boy Scouts of America due to the group's prohibition of gay Scouts and scoutmasters, the Georgia company said.

The shipping giant said the Boy Scouts' policy of barring gays from participating violates the UPS non-discrimination policy, which it applies to organizations receiving charitable contributions as well, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution said Monday.

The company stopped short of calling out the Boy Scouts directly, but a UPS spokeswoman said the Scouts are the only group that will not receive funds because of the non-discrimination policy.

Gay rights groups applauded UPS.

UPS donated $150,000 to the scouts in 2010, said Kristen Petrella, a UPS spokeswoman -- a relative drop in the bucket compared to the $61 million the Scouts took in donations in 2011. An online petition with 83,000 signatures pressed UPS to end its funding of the Boy Scouts, but Petrella said the decision to do so had been in the works prior to the petition circulating.

UPS follows Intel, who the website Change.org identified as the Boy Scouts' single largest contributor, who also halted donations citing the organization's ban on gay members.