Boy Scouts of America

A few months back, the Boy Scouts of America considered lifting their ban on gay scouts and leaders when public outrage shined a spotlight on their discriminatory policies.

They'll only end this discrimination if they know that public spotlight isn't going anywhere.

This coming Tuesday, the Scouts' Executive Committee will send out a resolution to the 300 local scouting councils on whether to allow gay scouts, which they'll vote on at their annual meeting next month.

For several years, I boycotted the Boy Scout Christmas Tree Lot here in Davis, writing a letter to the editor each year.  The local Scouts would answer it and people still bought their trees at the Scout lot because they knew Scouts, they liked Scouts.

I stopped writing my letter as it seemed like an exercise in futility and the Scouts had moved its lot from mid-town Davis to South Davis, where I never saw it anyway.

Whenever I wrote my letter, the local leaders would respond, saying that they also did not believe in the ban and, in fact, they did not follow it.  (I have no proof whether or not this is actually true).

I've thought about that a lot and decided that not following the ban may be as bad as the discrimation itself.

Many years ago, I joined Ellen and Shelly in picketing the local Scout Cabin, which belonged to the City of Davis and which was used for Scout activities.   Our point was that city funds should not be used to provide anything to groups which disciminate.  Ultimately the Scout cabin was closed and I don't know how (or if) the city supports the Scouts these days.

But while we were picketing, I learned something interesting.   This being a university town, many students from other countries passed by our little group, huddled together on the corner receiving hateful epithets from Scout supporters.  The foreign students couldn't understand what the fuss was all about because in their country (and this was true of all of the students from many countries who talked with us), gender is not an issue in Scouting membership or leadership.  Nobody can see any reason why being gay should a deterrent to being a Scout or leading a Scout group.

According to the BSA, religious organizations comprise 70 percent of its sponsoring organizations. Mormons, United Methodists and Catholics — the three largest groups — sponsored more than 1 million of the current 2.6 million Scouts in 2011.  This religious leadership was not in place when I was leading Scouts here in the 1980s, I don't believe.  At least I never heard of it.

The American Boy Scout Executive Council says that no boy who is athiest or gay can be a Scout and that no man who is athiest or gay can be a Leader (though what religion or sexual orientation has to do with camping and making smores I don't know!)  The BSA has taken away Eagle Scout awards from boys who have come out, and recently denied Eagle Scout award to a young man who had been working toward it since he was 8, long before he realized his sexual orientation.

This is clearly discriminatory.  In this country we do not discriminate on the basis of religion or sexual orientation and clearly, while the Supreme Court has upheld the BSA's right to discriminate, it is wrong for them to receive any federal or local governmental funding, to use public buildings, or in any way benefit from anything that is funded by taxpayer money (though they are still receiving these benefits in many places).

The local leaders in this area have said that they ignore the policy and that a boy or man can belong to the Scouts if they are athiest or gay.

But think about it.  If they follow the policy they are teaching young boys that not everyone is equal, that some kids are better than other kids, that some kids are "less than" and that it's OK to feel that way.

Not good, and possibly even dangerous in this era where bullying has escalated so much.

But is the opposite any better?  They ignore the rule and let gays and athiests participate.  Good, right?  Well, not really.  What they are teaching young boys is that rules don't matter and that if you don't like a rule, you don't have to follow it.

Really, that's not good either.  

If you think about the Boy Scouts as just doing fun stuff and camping and all that, it may seem that it's not important, but the older the boys get the more likely they are to be influenced by whatever decision their leaders make.  The only logical thing to do is for the BSA to fall in line with the rest of the world and lift the ban on athiest and gay members.

If you feel as strongly about this as I do (or even if you feel at all positive about it), you can go to this web site to sign a petition which will be delivered to the BSA before they send out their resolution to the 300 local scouting councils on whether or not to allow gay and athiest scouts, which they will vote on at the annual meeting next month.

This ban hurts kids and undermines key Scouting values, like helpfulness, kindness, friendliness, and courteousness.  It's time to send a message of inclusion -- not discrimination.  You know--like the rest of the world does.

Ryan Andresen, a teen who was denied the rank of Eagle Scout because he is gay,
says his scoutmaster won't respond to his calls or emails.
He has been working toward that honor since he was 8.

Rearing Its Ugly Head Again

The ugliness of bigotry and intolerance, which never really went away, but seemed silent for awhile, has once again reared its ugly head here in Northern California.

A young man named Ryan Andresen, of Moraga, California, has been a member of the Boy Scouts of America for the past 12 years, since he was six years old.  His dream has been to become an Eagle Scout and he has worked toward that goal for 12 years. But the problem is that in July Ryan came out as gay.  According to a petition circulated by his mother, Ryan had been a victim of bullying in his Scout troop and thus chose, as his final project for his Eagle badge a "tolerance wall" at a local school, a collection of 288 tiles painted by elementary children depicting acts of kindness.

A cheery smile and a helping hand make life easier for others.
By doing a Good Turn daily and helping when you're needed,
you prove yourself a Scout and do your part to make this a better world.

According to its website, Ryan's troop is sponsored by a local Presbyterian church and counts more than 75 active members aged 11 to 18.  Ryan surprised even his parents when he came out publicly in a letter to the troop in which he stood up for another scout who was bullied.

Boy Scouts of America spokesman Deron Smith indicated in a statement that Andresen's Eagle Scout Badge has been denied and his Boy Scouts membership had been revoked.

Being morally straight means to live your life with honesty,
to be clean in your speech and actions,
and to be a person of strong character.

Once again, in an era where there is much light being brought to the issue of bullying, the Boy Scouts of America has come out in favor of bullying one of its own.   It has taught its members that it's OK to be mean to someone who is different, to ignore 12 years of hard work because a boy of strong character dares to be honest about himself, and to stick up for someone else within the troop who is being bullied.  If he had remained quiet, lied about his sexual orientation, chances are he would have received his award by now. 
So the Boy Scouts of America has shown its members that if you are truthful you can be punished. If you are honest about yourself, you can be bullied.

You know, many years ago I participated in a protest against the Boy Scouts of America here in Davis.  We stood on a street corner with our signs and we were approached by many students from the University who were from other countries and who had belonged to Scouting in their own countries.  None of them could understand what the big deal about being gay was, since it was not even an issue in Scouting worldwide.

I myself was a Scout leader when our kids were young and there was no rule that I ever knew about excluding anybody (except girls) from Boy Scouts.  The ban on gay and atheist boys and leaders was not put into the laws until 1991 (when leadership was taken over by the Mormons, I understand).

In 2003, the Supreme Court upheld the BSA's right to deny membership to gay children.  It's legal to discriminate.  But just because it's legal does it make it right?

(And if you want to find out how your tax dollars support this "legal discrimination" check this web site.)

This issue is causing much pain for parents of boys in Scouting in the San Francisco area, reports the San Francisco Chronicle.  Parents want their children to have the Scouting experience but do not want to show support for the homophobic policies of the organization.  I have friends who are still Scout leaders and children of friends who are in Scouting and I have a difficult time with that. It's one thing to have a good time with a bunch of kids, but each time you do, you are tacitly agreeing with the treatment of boys like Ryan. I feel so strongly about how wrong this is and frustrated that there seems to be no viable alternative for parents who want their kids to join other boys to wear uniforms, earn badges, and go camping together.

But, as ineffective as I fear it will be, I have signed Ryan's mother's petition to get him his earned Eagle Scout award and I hope that if you feel as strongly as I do about how wrong this all is, you will join the >300,000 people who have already signed and let Ryan know that you are behind him and sign the petition too.

What if this were your son or your grandson...?