Boy Scouts Decide to Uphold Policy Against Gays. Does This Go Against What They Claim to Stand For?
After two years of review, the Boy Scouts of America announced today that they will uphold their policy of banning homosexuals from volunteering with or being members of the organization.
"After careful consideration of a resolution asking the Boy Scouts of America to reconsider its longstanding membership standards policy, today the organization affirmed its current policy, stating that it remains in the best interest of Scouting and that there will be no further action taken on the resolution," the BSA said in a statement.
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The decision was made by an 11-member special committee, whom the organization refused to identify, saying only that the committee members "included a diversity of perspectives and opinions" and their decision "reflects the beliefs and perspectives of the BSA's members, thereby allowing Scouting to remain focused on its mission and the work it is doing to serve more youth."
"With the country moving toward inclusion, the leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have instead sent a message to young people that only some of them are valued," Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said after the BSA announcement. "They've chosen to teach division and intolerance."
The current policy, which has been in place since 1991, states: "While the BSA does not proactively inquire about the sexual orientation of employees, volunteers, or members, we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA."
But many current and former scouts and their parents feel that the policy of discrimination against gays goes against the very things that the Boy Scouts claim to stand for.
"What is most disappointing about today's announcement is the secretive nature surrounding how this conclusion was reached," said Zach Wahls, an Eagle Scout who grew up with two moms and the founder of Scouts for Equality. "The very first value of the Scout Law is that a Scout is trustworthy. There is absolutely nothing trustworthy about unelected and unnamed committee members who are unwilling to take responsibility for their actions."
"It is stuff like this that really demeans all I worked for to become an Eagle Scout," said James Dozier at Change.org. "There are so many kids and families out there that could, and do, benefit greatly from what Scouting has to offer. Actions like this however leave such a black mark and are an embarrassment to people like me. I am so grateful for everything the Scouts taught me and I am proud about being an Eagle Scout, but this really diminishes everything I accomplished."
Jennifer Tyrrell, whose son is a Boy Scout, was asked to step down as a Tiger Cub den leader in April because of her sexual orientation. She launched a petition calling on BSA to change their policy, and has collected more than 314,000 signatures so far. She plans to present them to leaders at the Boy Scouts of America's national headquarters on Wednesday.
"A secret committee of 11 people can't ignore the hundreds of thousands of people around the country -- including thousands of Eagle Scouts, scout families, and former scouts -- that want the ban on gay scouts and scout leaders removed," she said in a statement on Tuesday. "This campaign doesn't stop, and we will continue to show the Boy Scouts that discrimination and intolerance have no place in scouting."
"With organizations including the Girl Scouts of the USA, the Boys & Girls Club and the U.S. military allowing gay Americans to participate, the Boy Scouts of America need to find a way to treat all children and their parents fairly," GLAAD President Herndon Graddick said in a statement.
19-year-old Eric Jones, an Eagle Scout, lost his job as a Boy Scouts of America summer camp counselor in Missouri when he told the camp's director that he was gay last week.
"He said I was deserving to be there, but he had to follow the policy of BSA," Jonestold the New York Daily News. Though he knew of the BSA's stance on homosexuality, Jones thought that his director "would overlook it" because he'd been a Boy Scout for nearly a decade and had worked at the camp for almost five years.
"I have to thank BSA for making the person I am, for being the person who stands up for what I believe in," Jones said. Still, he added, "I feel discriminated."
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