Back in October I ranted and raved over the coverage of the anti-gay mailer and commercial sent out against now-U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan. The mailer, in part, attacked Hagan for supposedly not supporting the Boy Scouts, because of their ban on gay troop leaders.
In the coverage, media conveniently forgot to mention that Boy Scout policy, likely the most important part of it, actually bans both leaders and youth members who are gay.
It seems the mainstream press aren’t the only ones ignoring gay youth: Gay media is doing it too.
In a recent article, 365Gay.com Newscenter staff explored a federal court’s request for an opinion from the California Supreme Court over a case involving San Diego Boy Scouts and their leases of public space.
Even gay journalists conveniently not mentioned that gay youth are also targets under the Boy Scouts’ anti-gay policies:
The Boy Scouts has been the target of preferential treatment lawsuits since the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2000 ruled that the organization has a constitutional right to exclude openly gay men from serving as troop leaders and because it compels members to swear an oath of duty to God.
Gay youth who are members of the Boy Scouts will never be protected if the public isn’t aware that they’re also targets under the anti-gay leadership of the largest youth organization in this nation. It’s a shame our own gay media isn’t even willing to report the situation accurately.
Speaking with former Boy Scouts and others for years since my dismissal, I’ve found far more youth dismissed from the Scouting program than adult leaders.
How shameful is it that a youth service organization discriminates against its own youth members? It’s even more shameful that media — and gay media, in particular — can’t (or won’t) report the truth.
January 8th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Good point. Thanks for posting the reminder.
January 8th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Matt,
It’s not just this case with the Boy Scouts. In so many articles and such, our media seems to be so lazy that they take religious right talking points and runs with them. I don’t know why but for some reason, there is a degree of laziness in the lgbt media. There is no encouragement to take new angles to old arguments.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
The “Boy Scouts” in America are far removed from the international scouting movement. Yes, when Baden Powell founded the Boy Scouts 101 years ago, it was a Christian organisation. Not any more (except, it seem, in America). It is a multi-faith – and non-faith, for that matter -international movement that is in virtually every country in the world.
The word “Boy” was dropped years ago and there is no upper age limit for ‘rank and file’ scouts. As for a “gay” position – here in UK they don’t have one. With the anti-discrimination laws enacted here over the last few years, the Scouts would not be allowed to discriminate against gays … and as far as I am aware gays were never excluded or thrown out before the laws came into force.
Seems like Boy Scouts of America need to stop being so “early 20th century”. Hey, even condoms are distributed by the Scouts in UK to anyone who asks (straight or gay). And the scheme has not only government approval, but government finance.
Yes, I was a Scout back in the 1950s when I was a teen and realised I was more attracted to boys than girls. And I lost my virginity at a Scout camp, like so many guys of my age.
January 9th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Forgot to point you all to YouTube and the BBC Television news clip of Sex Ed in UK Scouts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ3uFjgqOWs
January 14th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Thanks Matt. I lost my virginity while a scout…to another scout! We were in the same troop and had similar interests. One thing led to another.
What I found ood about the SC decision is that the BSA tried to frame it as a homosexual-pedophilia issue, when in fact, it was more of a witch-hunting/homophobic reaction to having openly gay scoutleaders in their midst. I knew many gay scoutleaders and scouts that I could not believe what I was reading when the decision came out. Eventually, I stopped serving with the BSA.
The later reaction against gay youth only served to heighten their fear of anyone gay serving in the BSA. If one got rid of the gay leaders, why were there still gay youth? They used bad logic fueled by religion (the Mormons and Catholics, especially). Ironically, the Mormons hold the most youth and adult members in the BSA because they make it mandatory for youth to be involved and hold accountable many of the youth leaders to also be involved. I used to be a Mormon and know.
October 26th, 2009 at 9:49 am
I’m completely apauled by the fact that our government can allow something like this to happen.. People are people and have emotions all the same- I’m a senior in highschool ; I’m writing a paper on this subject in my Business Law class and being a gay female myself i see the struggle that gays have in the community..
It’s ridiculous how ignorant our country has become to the human nature and human emotion of today. The constiution states that everyone is created equal- YET there is vast discrimination against gays,are we not people too? I have no words to describe how angering it is to hear such a thing as Boy Scouts, created to help kids meet people and be comfortable with expressing themselves has decided to become anti-gay. What’s next seperate bathrooms? last time I checked this was 2009 not 1965 civil rights movement.