As a former scout, I’d say “just do what you want at the local level.”

And when a single disgruntled parent rats you out to the national leadership, what do you do? Expel the gay scout? Dissolve the group and explain to everyone that you’re doing it because of the gay scout? You’re playing with lives here.

I was pretty active in campus Christian ministry when I was in college. Though I am confident I never participated in that was anti-gay or anti-non-Christian myself, I now know I unwittingly supported some of the “less friendly” positions of the parent organizations. Because, how are people who don’t know you to know you are the ‘good kind of Christian’ and aren’t going to hate on them.

Notably, this just makes life that much harder for gay Christians. But that’s another topic.

Unfortunately does not cover right to marry asshole if asshole is same gender as you. 

So I did.

I’m currently the Nat’l Commissioner for the Baden-Powell Service Association (BPSA – http://bpsa-us.org).  We’re a traditional style Scouting association and are dedicated to providing Scouting to all youth and adults, regardless of gender (yes we’re co-ed at all ages), sexual-orientation, religion or no-religion, or any other differentiating factors.  Scouting was a very important part of my growing up and I learned many things from those experiences.  But after myself, and others, have been fighting the BSA for decades over their membership policies with absolutely no progress (which the BSA clearly restated in it’s unanimous decision last week to continue the policy) I decided to take the only leverage I had to make changes, my membership and my money, and go else where.

I would encourage all my fellow Eagle Scouts who have made the sincere and hard thought decision to return their Eagle to BSA National to check out our program and Association.  We could use the help and enthusiasm of experienced, concerned and morally upright Scouters such as you to help us get off the ground and spread the word about an alternative.  

A lot of former Scouts and parents won’t let their children participate in BSA scouting because of their policy decisions – and rightfully so.  But they should have an option available to them for pursing Scouting, maintaining their integrity and setting a forth-right example for their own children. 

We can make it happen if we work together on something worth supporting!

I’m more than happy to answer questions or comments about the program as well, so get in touch with us through the contact portion of our web site or via our Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/bpsa.us

I’m touched by all of the Eagles setting examples like this. Continue Scouting…

I’m also exceedingly fortunate that our local council here in Minneapolis has essentially told National to “stuff it” when it comes to this particular policy.  The spokesman for our local council was recently quoted in the paper saying that we will continue our policy (started ten years ago) of allowing all young men to join if they so wish, and to include anyone who wants to be a leader.  Not every council agrees with National – and while I’m sure a majority do, I’m glad that my council is choosing to be a leader on this issue.

When I read these letters of men returning their awards, I knew just exactly how painful it was for them to write – being an Eagle Scout is a great deal of who I am, whether I tell people or not.  I strive to live by the values I have been taught by the Boy Scouts – but I’m also well aware that some of the people running the BSA these days are idiots.

In my personal opinion, the best thing that an Eagle Scout who is unhappy with the current policies could do would be to stay involved in the movement, and to tell the young boys they work with that everyone – EVERYONE – has value, and the right to exist and belong – and eventually, some day, some of these young men will be involved at the highest levels of Scouting and will make the change that has to happen.   Most of the current leadership of the BSA are former Scouts – and that means from the district executives – the first-level “paid” folks that work with us volunteers – all the way up to Mr. Perez and Mr. Manzucca.  If we invest the time in training our youth today, maybe some day soon they can make a positive difference.

Scouting isn’t what happens in a boardroom in Texas.  It happens in countless parks and in homes and in the out of doors and in the hearts and heads of the kids.  Very few of these kids will have any sort of meaningful interaction with anyone at or from National – we’re where the rubber hits the road.  I’m hopeful enough of us will make a difference so that, some day, we’ll be able to look back at this as a particularly shameful, but educational period in our history.  If we can’t, then the Boy Scouts themselves will be synonymous with the KKK and other bigoted groups of history.

I’m posting this under my real name, even though I fully expect that one or more of the less tolerant leaders of our local Troop might eventually find it and call into question my suitability as a leader.  Why would I do something so “stupid”?  Because maybe it will inspire some kid to do something brave, and not do something “stupid”.   There’s been too damned much pain and anguish because of something that people are born with – and that needs to stop.

I also have the right to send my eagle badge back, which is what I’ll be doing tomorrow. I’m proud of my achievement, not the organization.

However, it has always troubled me that I dedicated so much to an organization in which, as a non-theist, I was supposedly unwelcome. In my old troop, we never had to hide: I received my Eagle as an open non-theist (although I needed to articulate how I embodied “duty to god” without worship) and I knew two Eagles from my Troop who were openly gay. But outside our troop, at council and national events, summer camps and the like, it was clear that some of us weren’t wanted.

Reading these letters has made me realize that the incongruence between my troop and the organization with which we were chartered is not something I can continue to ignore as I did just a few years ago. I will always cherish the lessons I learned and people I met in my troop. Four years ago, I section-hiked 150 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail in a week with other members of my troop, an adventure I never would have sought on my own.

But while I will always appreciate the times I had in my troop and speak well of them, I cannot in good conscience do the same for the overarching organization. I don’t have my scouting things with me in my small apartment. But when I visit my parents in a few weeks, I intend to add my voice to the others who choose to remove their association with the BSA.

Irony, much?

Oh. Wait. This is America ;)

SOMEONE was sloppy with some dirty laundry there.  I mean, it’s pretty much what happens behind the scenes in such situations, but the cold calculation involved might startle some people.  

I do believe it deserves to be made public.

She’s not alone.  I was a scout, but discouraged my son from joining by explaining why.  I too see them as a smoother version of the KKK, at least at the upper levels.  They’re just better at hiding their bigotry.

I became the leader to make sure that there is no discrimination (this is not a new BSA policy against homosexuality), hazing, or overbearing leadership in our group. Scouting is supposed to be fun and all about the kids and learning. 

Your comment about using gay children as “political cannon fodder” is out of line and is what the current membership of the pack would become if I were to suddenly quit.