Category Archives: Boy Scouts

Even gay media ignores real gay Boy Scout issue

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.

Kay Hagan & the Boy Scouts: What about the kids?

I usually don’t do this, but this is an issue near and dear to my heart. Cross-posted from the day-job blog (InsideSource.Q-Notes.com)

A recent GOP mailer gay-baited State Sen. Kay Hagan and accused her of supporting gay marriage and allowing gay leaders in the Boy Scouts of America.

Obviously, the North Carolina Republican Party hasn’t done its best research. While Hagan has had a moderately gay-friendly voting record in her tenure in the N.C. Senate, she’s no outspoken advocate for the LGBT community.

Several times in her campaign Hagan’s side-stepped answering honestly and definitively on LGBT issues.

Get the whole story »

Goodbye historical context, hello ignorance and lies

Famed singer and conservative talking head Pat Boone has written a curious commentary at the rabidly anti-gay “news” website WND.com. In the “exclusive commentary,” entitled, “Are you ready for a gay America?”, Boone laments the loss of what he sees as his traditional America and the forthcoming “breakdown of society,” “last period of history,” “a decaying, irreligious world” and “social anarchy.”

Get the whole story »

Not gay…

A blogger quotes a story of a man suing the Boy Scouts of America for not dismissing two child molesters after learning of their abuse of boys in the program.

He then states:

And if they had dismissed the two Scoutmasters would they be getting accused of discrimination against gays?

Probably not. Gays were not a protected species back then.

Whether that would be true these days is another matter. You know you can’t dismiss anyone of a protected group for any reason without being accused of discrimination.

In case he didn’t get the memo: Being gay doesn’t make you a child molester and being a child molester doesn’t make you gay. These two men were perverts (if not pedophiles), not gay.

If only all boys were so lucky

Band of Scouting Misfits Attains Eagle Ranking
Achievement of 11 Teens Is Called Unprecedented

By Fredrick Kunkle
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, January 19, 2008; A01

The boys called themselves the Viking Patrol. The scoutmasters called them babies.

As Cub Scouts, they were so wild that the exasperated leaders insisted that their parents attend the meetings to keep things from getting out of hand. Their first hike as Boy Scouts became notable for the “strike” when the boys lay down side by side on an easy trail and refused to go on after having covered about the length of the Mall.

But something happened to these 11 whiny, quick-to-say-quit goofballs from Boy Scout Troop 681 in Falls Church. It happened somewhere along the way between pinewood derbies and knot-tying in the Scout House, the log cabin where the group met three times a month under the glassy eyes of a stuffed moose. And it happened on 50-mile hikes and canoe trips, under the watch of scoutmasters such as the retired lieutenant colonel who spun war stories and taught them how to set up an L-shaped ambush, Ranger-style.

Somehow, this bunch of undisciplined suburban kids grew into a closely knit crew of slyly ironic, decent, responsible young men whose proudest achievement was a 90-mile hike in the mountains of New Mexico. Now all 11 members of the Viking Patrol, one of 10 patrols that make up the troop, have made it to the rank of Eagle Scout — a feat that national, regional and local Scouting leaders believe is unprecedented.

Perhaps no one was more surprised than the boys.

“We were kind of the black sheep of the group,” Sam Dowell, 18, of Fairfax said.

Only 5 percent of Scouts achieve Eagle rank by age 18, when Scouting ends.

Read more at The Washington Post.

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Astonishing: KKK, Boy Scouts, Sin alert

Here are three topics - none related - that have astonished me in the past two days.

KKK
Back in December 2005, I posted a snippet of a Fox WGHP story on the recruiting efforts of the Ku Klux Klan. It seemed that the KKK - the most dangerous hate and violence filled group in the history of our country - had been distributing recruiting flyers in local Greensboro neighborhoods:

People found the fliers in a north western Greensboro neighborhood. One of the three pages wishes the community a happy holiday there’s also an application to join the Klan for $35. The first requirement is to be a white Christian practicing racial integrity. None of the materials had a local contact. Only the Klan’s website, a Harrison, Arkansas phone number and an address for the Klan’s international headquarters. People in the neighborhood say they’re more disturbed than shocked that the KKK would choose to bring their message of white supremacy to their front doors.

Yesterday, I received a comment on that post from an individual named “Jane.” In short, she said we should be more open-minded to the group:

up, I stepped up to the plate…AND JOINED them. Take some time and educate yourself. Read read read and you will see that a lot of whats said and what you hear are NOT what this organization is about. Yes, it is comprised of WHITE Christian people…but how is that any different than some of the BLACK groups out there…we have BLACK History month, do we have WHITE History month?? etc

Astonishing. Really… I’m put aback. It takes an astonishingly large amount of prejudice and ignorance to make a statement like Jane’s. Jane, the KKK is comprised of “white Christians” because the hate everyone else. What we hear about the organization is the exact truth. The KKK is an evil organization whose history is full of murder, rape, close-to-fatal injury and the use of God’s most holy Name to condemn, exclude and de-humanize millions of people.

Boy Scouts
Two days ago, I ran across a blog post written by a former Boy Scout who is now openly gay. The topic of the day was the impending eviction the Philadelphia Boy Scout council will face because they have refused to disavow the group’s discriminatory membership policy on gay youth and adults. That is where my fellow gay Scout messes up. He is, perhaps, unaware that the Boy Scout policy affects not only gay adults seeking to be Scout leaders, but also gay youth seeking to become or remain Scout members.

Here’s his take:

As a gay former scout I have to say that I wish the city had left this issue alone. I don’t like discrimination of any kind, but I also know what a great experience Boy Scouts was for me as a kid. I had a horrible relationship with my stepfather growing up and I hated being around him. In scouts I was exposed to men I could look up to and admire. Not allowing gays to act as Scout leaders does bother me, but not enough to do something that makes the Scouts less accessible to boys around the country.

Lets focus on gay marriage, gay adoption, the prosecution of hate crimes of every kind, and then, and only then, can we look at the scouting issue again - if we still have the energy.

As a scout in Florida in Boy Scout Troop 626, I knew I was gay, and I kept it to myself. The benefits of being a scout, for me, far out weighed the drawbacks (I’m don’t think there actually were any drawbacks) involved in staying in the closet. What thirteen year old will improve their life by coming out? Kids can be vicious at that age, but knowing two young men who are active in scouts, Corey and Thomas, I have to say that scouting has certainly not made them bigots. These are wonderful guys who are smart, capable, funny, and caring. If the scouts, under the current system, can turn out kids like that, then this is not a high priority issue for me.

I have to give him credit and respect. He does say, “The benefits of being a scout, for me, far out weighed the drawbacks… involved in staying the closet.” He also relates how he never felt there were any “drawbacks” to being closeted. As a fellow Scout and a gay man, I’ll respect his own life journey and experience. That does not mean, however, that I will not politely disagree.

The Boy Scout policy is something to be fought because it affects youth, as well as adults. In my fellow Scout’s writing, he does not address the policy as it relates to youth. Thousands of boys are remaining in the closet because they are scared of the reaction that they will receive if other Scouts and Scout leaders should ever know they are gay. I’ve been kicked out because of this policy (at age 14) and I’ve known of too many other youth who have experienced similar dealings with the BSA.

Just recently, in fact, I met a youth in Charlotte who was forced by his father to come out to the Boy Scouts. His father knew that once he came out in the troop, then he’d be kicked out and not allowed to participate any longer. In this instance, the Scout leader played right into the hands of the bigoted father. From both sides, that youth experienced bigotry and prejudice. Unfortunately, the one group of people who should have been standing next to him - to defend him against the ill-wishes of his father - took center stage and played right along with their inherited parts of “Exclusionary un-Boy Scouts veiled behind a meaningless* Scout Law and Oath.”

I’ll always support the Boy Scouts for the real values. I’ll keep working and praying for a day when all boys are able to participate in this wonderful, American experience of child and young adulthood and growing into a man.

Boy Scouts, Part Deux
Remember when I posted about the Berkeley Sea Scouts fighting that city over their publicly-subsidized use of the marina? Well, the main Scouter leading the charge to fight the City of Berkeley’s move to stand up for fairness and equality has now been charged with molestation of four boys.

From h/t Good.As.You:

Yes, that’s right — a longtime Boy Scout leader (seen here) has been hauled in on allegations that he has done the exact thing that they LOVE to say would happen if gays were allowed equal access to the organization.

Pam has more on the topic.

Sin Alert
Beth at Greensboring.com wrote a post on a sickening viral video floating its way around the internet. I’m not going to post a link to it, although a link is present in the comment sections of Beth’s post.

The video shows women eating feces, something the religious right has continuously used to demean and malign LGBT people as a whole. I saw a writer state one time that he had never actually seen or heard of any gay people engaging in many of the acts the religious right says we like to engage in on a regular basis.

I’m wondering why the religious right has not sent out a wave of sin alerts to their followers about this evil practice of a woman eating feces. There is no doubt in my mind that this particular movie - as well as the site from which it originated - are directed solely to heterosexual people. Where now are the cries, the shouts of anger and righteousness?

* - The Scout Law and Oath really aren’t meaningless. In my view, the two statements embody principles and lessons every American boy should learn. However, the Law and Oath become meaningless in the instance of discrimination upheld and committed by Boy Scout leaders. Once this happens, almost every point in the Scout Law and Oath are broken and a fellow Scout is left with no recourse but to leave, and never come back.

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Most ignored LGBT rights abuses? What’s your take?

I was thinking today, as I was working on announcing that the Inclusive Scouting Award patch was now available through the ScoutPride website.

The gay youth/non-theist youth & leader issue with the Boy Scouts of America is hardly, if ever, discussed anymore. It seems to me that most people are just willing to go on about other issues. To me, this is quite sad. We’ve got thousands of young boys who are being harassed and discriminated against and most folks either (a) don’t know about it, (b) have the incorrect, BSA & media spun impression that it is only an adult leader issue, or (c) don’t care.

The BSA gay/non-theist discrimination issue, in my mind, definitely makes the list of LGBT rights/dignity abuses most often ignored.

Some others I can think of? Well, almost every issue of importance to the transgender community, LGBT people of color, LGBT immigrants and LGBT people who are differently-abled.

So… to re-cap…

Gay youth in the Boy Scouts
Transgender issues
LGBT people of color
LGBT immigrants
LGBT people who are differently-abled

What other issues/communities do you think are being ignored or need more attention?

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Proof: Romney said gays should be allowed in Scouting!

Haha…

More at ScoutPride = http://scoutpride.interstateq.com/archives/38/

By the way, I had a short email conversation with Robert Knight, the director of the Culture and Family Institute affiliate of Concerned Women for America. I wanted to email him about the recent article he wrote concerning the Boy Scouts of America and their loss of office space in a city-owned building in Philadelphia, PA.

My main reason for contacting him was because his article focused solely on gay adult leaders and then connected gay adults to child molestation. I didn’t feel like fooling with challenging him on the gay = pedophile thing (because I know I won’t change his mind), but I did want to remind him that the official Scouting policy not only forbids gay adult leaders, but also calls for the dismissal of youth members (you know… teens and adolescents).

Anyway… as expected I got the same old response I always get from folks who disagree with me on the Scouting issue: Homosexuality is immoral and can’t be allowed… blah, blah, blah.

The Scouting issue, I’m afraid, is among some of the hardest of all LGBT issues to work on. I think it ranks right up there with LGBT issues in church and religion.

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Daily Roundup - Romney on the Boy Scouts, FCC rules, NYC marriage & ex-ex transgender

Federal Appeals Court knocks down FCC obscenity rules
A federal appeals court has ruled that FCC policies fining broadcast stations for airing programs containing certain obscenities are out of bounds:

If President Bush and Vice President Cheney can blurt out vulgar language, then the government cannot punish broadcast television stations for broadcasting the same words in similarly fleeting contexts.

That, in essence, was the decision on Monday, when a federal appeals panel struck down the government policy that allows stations and networks to be fined if they broadcast shows containing obscene language.

Although the case was primarily concerned with what is known as “fleeting expletives,” or blurted obscenities, on television, both network executives and top officials at the Federal Communications Commission said the opinion could gut the ability of the commission to regulate any speech on television or radio.

[...]

The decision, by a divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, was a sharp rebuke for the F.C.C. and for the Bush administration. For the four television networks that filed the lawsuit — Fox, CBS, NBC and ABC — it was a major victory in a legal and cultural battle that they are waging with the commission and its supporters.

And the FCC’s biggest concern? Oh… this one is easy:

Mr. Martin, the chairman of the commission, attacked the panel’s reasoning.

“I completely disagree with the court’s ruling and am disappointed for American families,” he said. “The court says the commission is ‘divorced from reality.’ It is the New York court, not the commission, that is divorced from reality.”

He said that if the agency was unable to prohibit some vulgarities during prime time, “Hollywood will be able to say anything they want, whenever they want.”

Awww… How cute. The government is upset they can’t control freedom of speech and expression anymore. Too bad. I guess they’ll have to appeal to the spirit of the Consitution — Oh, that’s right, the Bush Administration doesn’t believe that! Silly me.

Mitt Romney once opposed anti-gay Boy Scout policies
From ScoutPride:

Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, Republican Presidential candidate and an Eagle Scout, once opposed Boy Scouts of America membership & leadership policies prohibiting gay and bisexual youth and adults.

[...]

Romney stated, “I feel that all people should be allowed to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation.”

Read more at ScoutPride

D.C. City Council member promises to submit marriage equality legislation
Washington, DC City Council member Jim Graham promised in a Capital Pride Festival town hall meeting to introduce legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia within the next two years. Read More.

Report NYC could gain $142 Million if marriage equality legalized
New York City Comptroller William C Thompson, Jr. today released a report detailing huge economic gains for New York City if marriage for same-sex couples were legalized.

According to the press release:

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today issued a study finding that the legalization of marriage for same-sex partners could yield $142 million in economic benefits to New York City.

The report, Love Counts: The Economic Benefits of Marriage Equality for New York, concluded that the $142 million largely would be generated in the three years immediately following enactment of legislation, and would be derived from the spending of residents and visitors on their weddings, along with the spending of their out-of-town guests.

“Legalizing marriage for same-sex couples in New York would have impacts beyond allowing individuals to make the full legal commitments to their partners that opposite-sex couples take for granted,” Comptroller Thompson said in the report.

The report can be viewed online here (PDF).

Of the report, Robert J. Voorheis, Co-Executive Director of Marriage Equality New York, states, “We, at Marriage Equality New York, would like to thank Comptroller Thompson, and his staff for producing this report to show the positive financial impact that marriage for same-sex couples will have on our city. It will provide another reason why our marriages must be honored and respected in New York State and throughout the country.”

Ex-Ex Transgender speaks out
On TransAdvocate, an “ex-ex-transgender” (i.e. a transgender person who under went so-called “ex-gay” therapy and then realized it was a bunch of b.s.) speaks out and tells her story:

You’ve probably heard of the ex-gay movement. You may have even heard of the ex-ex-gay movement. Odds are slim that you know anyone that is ex-transgender. But have you ever known anyone that is ex-ex-transgender?

[...]

In late 1997 I began to realize that I might not be a crossdresser, but that something deeper was hidden underneath all the shame. My wife, the love of my life, had told me in no uncertain terms that if I was a bisexual or transsexual, our marriage would be over. Those two facts were playing a tug of war in my mind for months that caused me to go into a cycle of depression. In January of 1999 things finally came to a head, this looming thing was something I knew that I couldn’t hide from myself any longer. Crying curled up in a ball in the middle of my bed, I realized I couldn’t rid myself of this. I didn’t want to die, but I couldn’t keep living this way. In the desperation of the moment, I cried out to God.

For the next two years, I dove head first into the bible. I joined Horizon Christian Fellowship South, led by Pastor Tony Smith. The church was very bible centered, and the services were more educational than they were emotional. My days and nights away from the church, my head was either stuck in a bible, or on the net researching and or debating theology.

Read her whole story

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I’m guilty of blog neglect

I know… I need to post more. I’ll get right on it on Monday.

Over the past three days I’ve been working very hard and very diligently on ScoutPride. Please check it out… LOTS of info and features for registered members added!

I was talking to the primary organizer of the old InclusiveScouting.net site and of the Coalitions for Inclusive Scouting the other day and it seems that the old InclusiveScouting.net may see a resurrection.

Our idea is that InclusiveScouting.net and ScoutPride will be partner websites (and you know how I like to dream: I’d like to see InclusiveScouting.net and ScoutPride come under the operation of a single non-profit). InclusiveScouting will be more like a “think-tank,” focusing more heavily and in detail on the policy side of the BSA membership discrimination issue: Legal issues, sociological/psychological issues, moral discussion, materials for United Ways, concerned parents, troop committees, sponsoring organizations, etc. ScoutPride will be more of the community, networking and news based site for current, former & dismissed Scouts and supporters. Both sites will administer and distribute (free of charge, with donations to help with postage, creation of the patches and other costs) the Inclusive Scouting Award.

All of this is very exciting for me, you know.

In the next few days we should be rolling out a feature allowing members of the public to send their opinions on the membership policies to the National Offices of the Boy Scouts of America, Inc.