Editorial: Perry, Huckabee and the piss-me-off meter
by Matt | March 10th, 2008 |My March 8 editorial from Q-Notes, the premier LGBT news source of the Carolinas:
Perry, Huckabee and the piss-me-off meter
by Matt Comer . Q-Notes staff
Even though anti-gay conservatives say a lot of stupid things on an almost daily basis, there have been a couple of recent situations that really sent the levels on my piss-me-off meter through the roof.
Quote: “The point is that Scouting is not the place for sex education. When a gay or lesbian leader makes an issue of his or her sexual preference, it makes it impossible to remove sexual conduct from the Scouting realm.”
I have to say that as a Boy Scout who was kicked out for being gay, challenging this comment from Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s new book, “On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For,” is not for me merely an exercise in debate or rhetoric.
For me, as with the countless other boys and young men who have been harassed, tormented and booted by their fellow Scouts and BSA leaders, this issue is a deeply personal one. It’s particularly disheartening that Scouting has yet to embrace its entire family even as the program moves toward its centennial in 2010.
Gov. Perry’s position is just plain wrong and he’s completely misleading people. The BSA policy prohibiting gays from membership and leadership is just that: a prohibition against both members and leaders. Perry doesn’t mention members, as in youth members, but rather only “leaders” (I haven’t read the entire book, but the excerpts made public make no mention of discrimination of youth).
Unfortunately, Perry isn’t the only one who overlooks the point that the BSA actively discriminates against youth and children. The mainstream media and even our own gay media often do the same.
Read the rest at Q-Notes Online
2 Responses to “Editorial: Perry, Huckabee and the piss-me-off meter”
As an Eagle Scout and former scout leader, Perry is just plain wrong. While growing up in the scouting program, I knew of several gay ‘boys’ and a few leaders. The leaders never tried to do anything with the boys (we were too busy doing each other) and the boys rarely did anything with the leaders…unless they were of age. Perry is just spouting off horrible rhetoric.
By juanito on Mar 11, 2008
Just came across this today - the org. I work for (PFLAG) is coming out with something about the BSA discrimination soon - I’ll keep you posted.
My partner, Sean, is an Eagle Scout, by the way
By Adam R. on Mar 15, 2008