Scout leader Greg Bourke was fired this week for being gay.

Since the Boy Scouts of America announced it was sticking with its anti-gay policy in July, without any explanation as to why it was the “best policy for the organization,” pressure has increased against the group as well as its donors. In addition to a new steady stream of Eagle Scouts returning their badges, churches and charities have begun to pull their funding. This week, another Boy Scout Leader was fired for being gay in Kentucky and is petitioning for reinstatement.

The American Independent has published a new report identifying the BSA’s largest corporate donors, many of which continue to give despite having policies against giving to organizations that discriminate based on sexual orientation. In particular, the Intel corporation gave about $700,000 to the Boy Scouts in 2010, almost half of which went to troops and councils directly connected to the Mormon Church. The Church of Latter Day Saints sponsors nearly 38,000 scouting units — 34 percent of all units nationwide — and has said it would abandon that support if gays and lesbians were allowed to serve as scout leaders. The intrepid son-of-two-moms advocate Zach Wahls has launched a petition calling on Intel, which has a 100% rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, to end its anti-gay giving.

Other companies that have given to BSA include Verizon ($318,000 in 2010) as well as big banks Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, and Bank of America, each of which gave more than $100,000:

Following up on their model policy to ensure ongoing bullying of LGBT students, Focus on the Family and Alliance Defending Freedom have released new model legislation about “parents’ rights.” Much of the access they seek for parents greatly endangers children and deprives them the opportunity to learn about their own identities and the world around them. Here is the risky access these anti-gay groups seek for parents:

• The right to be notified if courses teach sex education, family planning, homosexual themes, diversity issues, and extreme violence. This is broad, vague language that could scare teachers and administrators from even allowing certain topics to be discussed in class, not unlike the stifling “Don’t Say Gay” legislation proposed in various states or the failed “neutrality” policy once employed in Minnesota’s Anoka-Hennepin School District.
• The right to opt the child out of any course or activity the parent finds “morally or religiously offensive.” This is similarly broad access that could deprive children of learning important information about their own bodies, their own identities, their own families, the political issues impacting the world they live in, and quite possibly the basic tenets of biology, if evolution is also covered.
• The right to opt the child in to any course or school activity that includes information about contraceptive services. “Opt in” means that the child cannot be enrolled without permission. Even though abstinence-only education is demonstrably ineffective, such a policy would allow parents to prevent public education that benefits the health of society.
• The right to review all curricula and teaching materials. Such a policy would undermine the credentials and expertise that qualifies teachers to teach and allow parents to pick and choose what their kids can learn.
• The right to access the child’s record, including grades and counseling records. This provision could be particularly detrimental to young people who are struggling with coming out and are  not yet out to their parents. Studies have found that 40 percent of homeless youth are LGBT, primarily because of family rejection.
• The right to remove the child from school on days of religious observance. This policy is already in place.
• The right to be informed of all disciplinary proceedings. As with the counseling records, this policy could similarly out young people to their parents without their consent, particularly if simply being a victim of anti-gay bullying warrants a disciplinary record. Administrators should have a certain amount of discretion in how to proceed in each situation to act in students’ best interests.
• The right to opt the child out of any extracurricular activity in which the parent does not want the child to participate. This is yet another attempt to violate young people’s privacy, should they be participating in a gay-straight alliance or similar group but have not yet come out to their parents.

Once again, Focus and ADF have proven that their top priority has nothing to do with protecting children, but actually ensuring that LGBT young people remain as vulnerable and misinformed as possible.

As part of a deal to open a new location in Chicago, fast food giant Chick-Fil-A may have agreed this week to include an LGBT non-discrimination policy for workers and customers, and to stop donating to anti-gay groups. Chick-Fil-A wants to open a second location in the city, but has been met with resistance by the local LGBT community and city officials. Alderman Proco “Joe” Moreno has been trying to broker a deal.

A Chicago LGBT rights organization The Civil Rights Agenda told BuzzFeed Wednesday that as part of negotiations, the foundation responsible for Chick-Fil-A’s giving agreed to stop donating to anti-gay advocacy groups, including two far-right institutions, Focus on the Family and the National Organization for Marriage:

The comments came, the group The Civil Rights Agenda said, in correspondence with a Chicago alderman who had opposed the chain’s expansion to the city.

“The WinShape Foundations is now taking a much closer look at the organizations it considers helping, and in that process will remain true to its stated philosophy of not supporting organizations with political agendas,” the chain is said to have written in a letter to Alderman Proco Moreno. The Chicago group added in a press release: “In meetings the company executives clarified that they will no longer give to anti-gay organizations, such as Focus on the Family and the National Organization for Marriage.”

Oddly, though, neither Focus on the Family nor the National Organization for Marriage are on the list of groups to which WinShape has donated.

In following up for more details, BuzzFeed received a canned response from the company, saying, “We have a 65-year history of providing hospitality for all people and, as a dedicated family business, serving and valuing everyone regardless of their beliefs or opinions.” That line echoes Chick-Fil-A’s Senior Director of Real Estate and its Facebook page, but are in direct contradiction to some of the company’s president, Dan Cathay’s, remarks.

Chicago was at the epicenter of the Chick-Fil-A battle, with its only Chick-Fil-A owner speaking out against the company, and city officials — including Moreno — threatening to stop the store from opening a second location at all.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard

A bill to pass same-sex marriage was overwhelmingly shot down in Australia’s House of Representatives this week with a vote of 98-42. Prime Minister Julia Gillard led the opposition, but according to Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young of the Australian Greens, Gillard “didn’t have the guts… to explain to the Australian people why she thinks discrimination should continue.” The leader of the Greens, Christine Milne, accused the ruling Labor party this week of “back room manipulation,” suggesting that Gillard had struck a deal with Australian Christian Lobby member Joe De Bruyn to shut down debate after Sen. Cory Bernardi compared homosexuality to bestiality, a claim that led him to resign this week.

Finance Minister Penny Wong, who is openly gay and raising a child with her partner — and who has spoken out passionately for LGBT equality in the past — decried the hurtful comments she heard from Senators  about the families of same-sex couples:

WONG: I do not regret that our daughter has Sophie and I as parents. I do regret that she lives in a world where some will tell her that her family is not normal. I regret that even in this chamber, elected representatives denigrate the worth of her family. I will not rest in the face of such prejudice. I want for her, for all of us, an Australia which is inclusive and respectful, and this is why this campaign will not end here.

The Australian Senate will have its own separate vote on same-sex marriage on Thursday. In addition, several Australian states, including Tasmania, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and New South Wales, are separately considering marriage equality legislation. Despite the House’s lopsided vote, 64 percent of Australians support the freedom to marry.