On Monday, I published a letter from my husband, Christopher Baker, to the Boy Scouts of America. In that letter, Baker returned his hard-earned Eagle Scout award and explained that he no longer wanted to be associated with an organization that discriminated against gay teenagers and GBLT parents. By the end of the day, I'd posted six updates to that story—adding letters from other Eagle Scouts who had joined my husband in resigning from a fraternity they had loved and had worked incredibly hard to join.

The Boy Scouts of America is a private organization. The Supreme Court has said they have the right to discriminate. What these Eagle Scouts are saying is that legal precedent doesn't make the discrimination right. Overwhelmingly, they've said that it makes them sad to see the organization that meant so much to them go against the very values of inclusion that it taught them as children. As Baker wrote, "banning openly gay scouts and leaders is not a neutral position any more than separate-but-equal was a neutral position on race."

Yesterday, I received more letters from other Eagle Scouts who want the Boy Scouts of America to know how disappointed they are, and that they choose to stand with the persecuted rather than with the people doing the persecuting. In this post, you can read inspiring words from 13 Eagle Scouts who asked that I share their letters. In most cases, I've included a photo of the letter, and quoted text for easy reading. They're worth reading. These are amazing men.

Well, amazing men, and one woman. I'm starting out this collection with the letter of Dr. Julie Praus.

Julie Praus

I received my Eagle award in 1976, at age 15. A member of Troop 28, Devils Lake, ND under the name Douglas James Praus. I went on to become a National Merit Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa, went to medical school, became a psychiatrist, served for 12 years in the US Air Force, raised 3 sons, made a distinguished career as a physician. I transitioned gender in the midst of all that. I'm very 'out', and serve the GLBT population as well as the general population in the twin cities area.

I've found that being an Eagle is a member of a very select club. I've met them in universities, the military, and in medicine. They've all been of sterling character, and I've been honored to be in their company.

I read with dismay about the 'secret committee' that decided that gay scouts and leaders were not welcome within the BSA. This seems utterly indefensible and reprehensible. Do you think there were no gay or trans scouts or leaders? After a long time of reading the medical and psychological literature on this, and knowing many in the GLBT population, I find nothing to back up your decision, and must view this decision as an act of bigotry and ignorance. Please reconsider. The moral code I learned as a scout is one that I treasure to this day, and lends honor to one who follows it. I feel that this decision to exclude gay scouts and leaders dishonors the many who have served and learned scouting, and the BSA today.

Sincerely,
Julie M. Praus, MD

Zachary Maichuk

The Boy Scouts have been an important part of my life in more ways than I can describe. My father was my first scoutmaster, and scouting was a family affair. I spent more summers than I can count at scout camp, first as camper, then as staff. Those summers were important to shaping who I am as a man today. After I finished college, I made the decision to go into the Peace Corps based on my Boy Scout ideals. I had, after all, just spent 4 years giving myself a degree, and it was only right that I give the next two to serving both my country and the starving and needy.

In The Gambia, I worked with two different scout troops in the local villages. One of those troops still has my old handbook as a guide. I also wrote an “appropriate technology” manual to help with the development effort, and much of the information, from basic knots and lashings to the creative low tech cooking and baking devices, were based off the knowledge I had acquired from my years as a scout. My choice to pursue my doctorate in psychology has its roots in my scouting experience. One of my mentors from scouting pushed me to become a doctor, and as a therapist, I have an opportunity to help others alleviate their suffering. The art I do, my leatherwork, would not have been available to me if it wasn't for the old scout leather kit I found in the basement, and my time at the Handicraft Lodge. I even still today carry my trusted Swiss Army knife with Boy Scout Hot Spark, just so I can always be prepared.

It is with this knowledge that you can understand how hard this decision has been for me to make. My path to Eagle Scout has been so important to making me who I am. But there is a sad reality in that I cannot continue to keep this honor and still live up to what this honor is supposed to mean.

I cannot accept the exclusion of homosexuals from the organization of the Boy Scouts of America. I am a doctor of clinical psychology who has studied trauma and sexual abuse, and as mentioned in your own youth protection videos, I know that there is no connection between sexual orientation and child predation. I also have a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from Rutgers University, and I know that religious objections to homosexuality are neither universal, nor as clear cut as popular culture would like to maintain. I have been trained as a scientist-practitioner of a social science, and I know that sexual orientation is biological, cannot be taught or passed on through association, and more harm is done by forcing a person to deny innate orientation.

There is no good reason to exclude homosexuals from Scouting, and no harm will befall our Scouts by ending this unjust practice. But beyond the facts and the science, there is also a deeper, more moral reason for ending this practice, and it is rooted in the Law we were all taught to follow:

A Scout is Trustworthy, and it would be dishonest for me hold onto my attachments to an organization I know is harming others with discriminatory policies.

A Scout is Loyal, and I cannot count the number of people I would be betraying by not opposing ongoing exclusion in scouts based on sexuality. My friends Mark, Gabe, Amy, Daphne, Toni, Rebecca, Dawn, Jessica, Jeff, Isaiah, and many others have taken their turns looking out for me when I was in need of a friend. My various co-workers Joe, Jack, Alix, Louis, Jerry, and Melody were important team members at one time or another, and one was even blacklisted from our organization because of this unjust rule. My childhood friends like Jason and Eric grew up with me, and have maintained friendships over the years. If I were to not oppose the Boy Scout's policy against homosexuals, I would be disloyal to these very good people in my life, people who have been very loyal to me.

A Scout is Helpful, and promoting any discrimination hurts, not helps, those discriminated against, and the society that allows the discrimination.

A Scout is Friendly, and discrimination is not friendly. And teaching scouts to discriminate does not produce friendly scouts

A Scout is Courteous, and there is no way to politely treat a person like they are less than human because of the way they were born.

A Scout is Kind, and likewise there is no kind way to discriminate.

A Scout is Obedient, but obedience is not blind. As a scout I was always told to stand up for what is right and help those in need. The choice being presented is to be obedient to an unjust rule, or being obedient to a core ideal. I choose to be Obedient to what Scouting is supposed to stand for, not an unjust bylaw.

A Scout is Cheerful. Cheerfulness is about optimism. It is about bring out the good and joy in self and others. Cheerfulness is about encouraging the morale among all those around. You cannot be cheerful as you harm others or treat them as less than human. Discrimination does not sit on the bright side of life.

A Scout is Thrifty. A scout uses his resources not for himself, but for the service of others. Were I to keep this award and ignore the harm the policy is doing, I would be acting in greed, and against the value of thriftiness.

A Scout is Brave. It would be easier to look the other way. It would be easier to support the status quo even if it is doing harm. It would be easier to shut up and just write off this injustice as the way things are. But it is brave to stand up, and risk the repercussions involved in pointing out and demanding change in the face of what is an unjust policy. As such, I am calling on you to be brave, and risk the change that will be best for all involved.

A Scout is Clean, and injustice, discrimination and prejudice tarnish the soul.

A Scout is Reverent. I have a Bachelor's degree in religious studies. The so called religious objections to homosexuality are not as clear cut as people like to believe. What is clear that the God I revere desires Justice and Love, and hatred in God’s name is sacrilege.

In addition, I swore, on my honor, to do my best to do my duty to God and my country. My duty to God dictates I act towards all people in the name of Love and Justice. My duty to my country demands I fight for the freedoms and rights of all my countrymen despite race, creed, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. I swore to obey the Scout Law, and I have shown above how I must do this to honor that law. I swore to help other people at all times, and ignoring this unjust discriminatory process is contrary to the ideal of helping others. I swore to keep myself physically strong and mentally awake, and cannot allow myself to cloud my mind with immoral justifications for immoral rules. Finally, I swore to keep myself morally straight, and standing by silently as others are discriminated against is morally bankrupt.

So it is with great sadness that I feel I must return my Eagle Scout Award, not because I am ashamed of the values of Scouting, but because I know to keep it in the face of the current discriminatory policies against homosexuality is a violation of those core values I was taught to honor as a Scout.

Sincerely
Dr. Zachary Maichuk

Barry Ferns

I am an Eagle Scout (1964) and Vigil Member of the Order of the Arrow (1968 or 1969). I am not Gay but that is irrelevant.

Your recent reiteration of the policy of excluding Gays and Lesbians (hereinafter “Gay”) is causing my beloved organization a lot of harm. The Boy Scouts was always about building character and honor. It can not be an exclusive organization.

In the 60's, it was thought that being Gay was a choice. After reviewing the data, that simply is not true. I have known many Gay individuals and can attest to that. So, if that is the case, how can we turn our backs on so many Gay young people? As for adult volunteers, I have never seen anyone try and force or persuade a young person to chose a Gay lifestyle. The Scouts need all the volunteers it can get.

I am hearing a lot of negative things about the Scouts because of this policy. My own son will not allow his son to join the Scouts. I have a hard time persuading him to do otherwise. There of millions of us out there who feel the same way I do. Please, reconsider this policy.

Very truly yours,
BARRY FERNS

It pains me to write this letter.

I remember being six years old, sitting in the cool wooden chairs of the Washington Elementary school auditorium in Washington, Oklahoma. I sat there with all the other boys, writhing in summertime excitement, glad to be dismissed from class for an unannounced presentation. I didn’t know what the presentation was going to be about or why only the boys were invited to attend, but I didn’t care: school was recessed for the day and that was enough.

As we were told to settle down by the principal, a gentleman walked out in olive green shorts and a khaki shirt with a belt that had things hanging from it–a compass, a pocket knife, a canteen–and a hat with a wide brim. After we had finally settled to near silence, the man in the wide brimmed hat pronounced with a jolly, incredulous voice that he could cook an egg in a campfire with only an orange peel. I was intrigued. Who was this weird guy who is hanging out where fires burn and eggs might need to be cooked using no more than an orange peel? Then he told us that he learned this trick when he was our age and went on his first camping trip with the Boy Scouts. He went on to regale us with anecdotes about survival skills, honor, good citizenship, and lifelong friends, and I soaked every last story up with rapt amazement. Then came the zinger: signups were being accepted for a new Boy Scout troop right here in Washington. I couldn’t believe it. The time between getting out of that meeting and my parents picking me up couldn’t come fast enough. I needed them to sign me up as soon as possible. I joined the Boy Scouts that Summer as a Tiger Cub, one of the youngest members of the brand newTroop 247.

This was 26 years ago. Eleven quick years later, I would be standing with my father and Scoutmaster on a stage at St. Thomas Moore Catholic Church in Norman, Oklahoma receiving my Eagle Scout medal in front of proud Grandparents, family, and friends. What stood between those years was the single most defining experience of my youth: my time with the Boy Scouts. While others spent their summers indoors playing video games and hardly leaving their neighborhoods, I was white water rafting, spelunking, hiking, laughing, and, most importantly, learning the values of friendship, dependability, and a respect for the diversity of people on whom I needed to rely to accomplish all of these activities.

Therefore, because of this wildly fulfilling experience, it saddens me that the BSA has decided to reaffirm its disgraceful policy of bigotry and fear mongering. When I was a Scout, my troop had a diversity of races, faiths, and, as it turns out, orientations. Not one of these qualities ever prevented me from valuing our time together or developing cherished friendships, in fact, I loved that I hung out with a group of guys who were different because collectively we were uniformly awesome, but I digress.

I’ve struggled with my relationship with the Scouts since the initial ban of homosexuals several years ago, a backwards looking, arbitrary rule that took my breath away. How could this organization from which I have profited so much turn out to be the shining, happy face of bigotry? Although bigotry is too simple of a concept. The BSA’s ban was calculated, it was a political move to make some sort of a twisted appeal to the factions of our society that have celebrated and congratulated themselves for too long under the self-applied moniker of the “moral majority.” This calculation on behalf of the BSA sickens me and makes me sad beyond words. The BSA, the organization whose Eagle Scout rank I placed above even my hard-earned Master’s degree, thew an entire faction of the most vulnerable under the bus to appeal to the bullying tactics of a vocally bigoted, increasingly discredited niche. Shame on you!

What does your “stance” say to the 12 year old boy who has found repose in the welcoming arms of the Scouts from the bullying and harassment because he is seen as different? It says to him that his difference is shameful and unwelcome. My Boy Scouts have legitimized and empowered his attackers. For shame!

I get emotional thinking back to the joys I had with the Scouts. The Summer camps, spending time with my Dad and friends, the hours of exploration and the feeling of having friends who understood me. And it hurts to know that at the conclusion of this letter, I will have refuted the organization under whose umbrella all of this joy was possible. But then I think of the couple who love one another and have dedicated their lives to the purpose of serving one another and the pain they must feel at having respectable organizations publicly say that not only are they not welcome in the organization, but their love is an abomination. I think about this and I know that my pain in refuting the Boy Scouts is significantly less by degrees. This knowledge does not make my rejection of the Boy Scouts easier, but it does tell me that it is right.

It is with hope that one day the Boy Scouts of America will find their purpose that I quit the organization. Know this: I am hopeful things will change, not because they are politically calculated, but because they are right. In the meantime and under your current disgraceful policies, I return to you my Eagle Scout credentials. My medal is a couple thousand miles away in a box in my parent’s house, so I do not have that to return to you, but please accept my membership card instead. As you can see, it’s well worn. I used to carry it in my wallet and enjoyed showing it to people.

Regretfully,
Dustin Robert Lee
Somerville, MA
former Eagle Scout of Troop 247

I attained the rank of Eagle Scout on a date I will never forget, 02/02/2002. I was one of six friends who reached Eagle at the same time in Mundelein, Illinois. It was such a significant occurrence in our small suburban town that we made it into the newspaper. We grew up together, starting as Cub Scouts, where my mother was the den leader and the other five boys’ parents were all leaders in some fashion.

The six of us followed each other throughout scouting. Though one of us drifted apart from the others, the connections forged in scouting has kept us close, sticking together through all manner of events, both happy and sad; each of us taking turns leading the group in our own way. To this day, the five of us are close friends, attending each other’s weddings and those of our friends; maintaining strong friendships, supporting each other through the good times and the bad.

Unfortunately, it’s now with a heavy heart that I must do what time and the strain of the world tried so hard to do: I must break from my brothers; my lifelong friends. I can no longer stand with them as a proud Eagle Scout. Though I will retain the values, morals and skills that scouting has taught me, I cannot, in good conscience, remain an Eagle. That honor has been corrupted by the BSA’s blatant discrimination and bigotry.

The BSA’s policy of “not granting membership to open or avowed homosexuals” is not a practice in line with the teachings of the Boy Scouts. Instead, this is the practice of bigots. Scouting taught me to stand up against the unethical and that it is wrong to exclude someone for any reason, whether it be race, religion, gender, sex, physical ability or sexual orientation. I was taught to stand up for those who need my help. I am a straight man and I choose to stand with those whose voices you choose to suppress and ignore.

I am relinquishing my Eagle Scout medal and patch to the BSA’s care because the honor the rank holds has been tainted. The rank of Eagle no longer holds meaning when it is backed by an organization that represents such bigotry and contempt for others. It is my hope that, one day, the BSA will see its mistake. On that day, I will proudly stand as an Eagle Scout once again.

Sincerely,
Matthew Munley
Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Troop Guide, Troop 388
Order of the Arrow, Ordeal Member, Lodge 40

I attribute my curiosity, my morals, and my self-reliance to the principles that I learned in scouting. Being a scout gave me purpose as a youth, and I have never regretted my years of service.

Due to the actions of your board on July 17, however, I have come to regret my continued association with the BSA. In no uncertain terms, I say to you gentlemen that you are cowards. By continuing to remove dedicated leaders and aspiring scouts from their positions because of their homosexuality, you are weakening scouting and causing trauma and isolation to the most vulnerable boys in our community.

When I was a Cub Scout, there was one boy in our pack who had been born with a cleft palate. Due to his speech impediment, he spoke rarely and quietly. Naturally, the rest of us teased him and made him an outcast until our pack leader sat us down and explained things. He impressed upon us this boy’s desperate need for friends and inclusion. He made sure that we knew that excluding others, no matter the reason, was completely unacceptable and against every law of scouting and brotherhood.

I want you to think about the boys you are casting out of your organization, and I want you to wonder how many of them need support while their families, their schools, and their churches turn their backs on them. I want you to think about the pain you are causing, the depression you are enabling, and the suicides that you are contributing to. I want you to recognize your weakness of character as you fail in your duty as men to protect the powerless.

As a Tiger Scout, Cub Scout, Webelos Scout, Boy Scout, Eagle Scout, Patrol Leader, Senior Patrol Leader, and Order of the Arrow Brotherhood member, I learned that what is easy is not always right. Something is not moral just because it is legal. You may have convinced the Supreme Court that your bigotry is lawful, but you will never convince me that this policy is anything but dishonorable negligence in your role as leaders.

One day, I am sure, the Boy Scouts of America will stop turning aside the boys who need it most. Until that day comes, I will be ashamed to have my name associated with yours. Remove me immediately from the ranks of Eagle Scouts, and find enclosed my Eagle Scout award. Until you begin to live by the values of inclusion, kindness, and civility that you espouse, I refuse any association with the Boy Scouts of America.

Ian Birnbaum
Dallas, Texas
Former Senior Patrol Leader, Troop 485
Order of the Arrow Brotherhood Member, Lodge
Aina Topa Hutsi
Eagle Scout, 2002-2012

With this letter I am returning my Eagle Scout medal, badge, scarf, and merit badge sash, thereby relinquishing all previous and current association with Boy Scouts of America.

I act in solidarity with all gay boys, fathers, and mothers who will no longer be allowed to participate in this organization and its activities which I, as a boy who was not yet even considering his sexual orientation, was accepted into and benefitted from.

I act to prevent the indoctrination of assumedly heterosexual boys and families who might accept BSA’s current ruling as anything more substantial than sanctioned ignorance (at best) or institutionalized homophobia (at worst).

Reflecting upon the Scout’s oath which I was led to memorize and repeat--and believe--I recall that bigotry and discrimination are not included in said values. As a Scout I was educated, via multicultural-appearing pamphlets and rank-advancing service projects, to appreciate and embrace diversity. I was expected to recite “with justice and liberty for all,” then acknowledge a Christ portrayed as all-accepting by stating the Lord’s Prayer in conclusion of every troop meeting. Given this “moral” education and current BSA policy, a hypocrisy exists with which I cannot ethically accept or abide in any way, shape, or form.

Until this egregious and antiquated policy is reversed, I will only speak of BSA with direct and legitimate criticism. I will not deny the discipline, skills, and solidarity I gained as a Scout. However, until these experiences become available to all youth and families, I remain a Former Eagle Scout.

I am quite proud of my effort and accomplishment achieving this rank circa 1981, and I tremendously appreciate the support of my parents, leaders, and community in this success. Thanks to all of you! I am no longer and not at all proud or appreciative of Boy Scouts of America. Rather, I am sad, disappointed, disgusted, and taking great umbrage.

I imagine questions my own son--almost five years old--might ask when he learns an enticing club from which I, his father, joined and retired, categorically rejects and denies some of his friends and community members for sake of whom and how they love. The tough answers I will give, so long as this letter speaks in vain and intransigent prejudice persists, will unfortunately enlighten my boy (be he straight or gay or otherwise) to the ways of this culture in it’s very poorest inculcation.

For myself and my inclusive family, Boy Scouts of America now serve to represent the sick and ailing shadow of American society rather that the optimistic shine I was sold on as a Tenderfoot, honored for as an Eagle, and expected to uphold as the contributing member of society I have since become.

Sincerely,
Mark Dooley, Former Eagle Scout and Senior Patrol Leader Troop 301 Hutchinson, KS
MA Clinical Psychology, Master of Environmental Studies, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Child Mental Health Specialist, Certified Sexual Assault Services Provider, WA State Approved Clinical Supervisor

I was very active in Scouting in the mid 1970s in my council in XXXX. I held all possible positions in my troop XXX. I was on the staff of Camp XXXX, was a Brotherhood member of the Order of the Arrow and served as lodge secretary. I earned 24 merit badges. In the years since my youth I have served as a merit badge councilor and have assisted local troops in other capacities.

It was with a great deal of pride of accomplishment that I earned and was awarded the Eagle Scout award in 1975.

But it was with a great deal of disgust that I heard of the Boy Scouts of America’s recent reaffirmation of their anti-gay policy.

I have known of this policy for some time, and each time it was in the news I hoped that the BSA would take the opportunity to revisit the policy and to do the right thing, to change the policy and make the BSA an inclusive organization that would welcome all boys and leaders, regardless of sexual orientation.

Well, you had the opportunity, and you blew it. You could have followed the lead of other youth organizations that have recognized the needs of all those who could be served by the otherwise excellent programs that develop skills and confidence in young men. But you did not.

Today I am returning my Eagle Scout medal because I do not want to be associated with the bigotry for which the BSA stands.

I had at one time considered a career as professional Scout. I have looked upon the principles that I learned as part of the Scout Oath and Law as ideals to guide my actions. But in the years since I left active participation in Scouting I have learned that being Loyal, Courteous, and Kind to my fellow humans includes being tolerant, accepting, and inclusive of others despite their differences. Bigotry is not part of anything that I learned from Scouts — but that is what you are teaching to the young men in your program today. Shame on you for doing so.

While I recognize that the BSA is a private organization and has the right to include or exclude from its membership anyone it wants to, this is an organization that I no longer wish to have anything to do with.

William Lynch

Lynch had this today about his letter, posted below: "I am not an activist (and in fact, even lean a little to the right of center), but after reading what many of my fellow Eagle Scouts have done since the BSA announced their decision, I could not in good conscience sit idle. I made an individual decision to return my medal to the organization until such time that the policy is reversed. Included with my medal was the attached 2-page letter which took me nearly 4 hours and many tears to write."

Recently, I was disheartened to learn that the BSA has made a national executive decision to continue a long-standing policy of exclusion towards persons of “undesirable” religious affiliations and sexual orientation. This policy is unjust and wrong. I feel that I MUST take a principled stance and join my fellow Eagle scouts in returning my medal (enclosed).

I earned the rank of Eagle scout in 1993 through Troop 770 in Winston Salem, NC and Troop 17 in Enon, OH. It was an arduous process that didn't end until a few months before my 18th birthday. Most of my peers had long since moved on, as I longed to do so myself. Scouting was tough, but I loved it. I buckled down and finished my last merit badge and service project because I'm no quitter. But I feel that I must quit now. Earning the Eagle scout honor was very hard-won personal victory, especially for a small boy who would rather stay inside and read comic books than be outdoors canoeing and camping. It was tougher than MBA school. It was tougher than starting two businesses. It was tougher than the martial arts I would take up as a twenty-something. But scouting wasn't tougher than Engineering school and scouting wasn't tougher than helping my wife through her own dark times early in our marriage. It certainly wasn't tougher than writing this letter.

However, without scouting, I don't know that I would have been tough enough to do any of those things. Scouting taught me to get out of my comfort zone and do things I did not believe I could do. Scouting taught me that anything is possible if I believed in myself. Myself, not a magic being.

Perhaps my greatest achievement in scouting was possibly saving the life of a fellow scout during the summer of 1987 or 1988. On one of our many hikes at that vast reserve of Camp Raven Knob in the western NC mountains. There were probably about 30 of us on the hike, and for some reason, I was walking at the head of the group that day. A juvenile copperhead snake was crossing the trail and I don't think anyone else had spotted it. I put my arm up to stop the boys behind me and the counselor came forward and tossed it into the woods with a stick. I had learned that juvenile copperheads were the most dangerous, because they hadn't learned to control the amount of venom injected with a bite and would inject far more than an adult. The boy next to me (or one of the others) may well had been bitten if I hadn't stopped the group.

No one can say what would have happened that day if I had been excluded way back then but possibly because I was there, we do know that no one was bitten in my group. The fact of the matter is that scouts look out for each other, just as I know that you and the executive council must believe that you are looking out for today's scouts by continuing the policy of exclusion against gay and atheist boys and men. Unfortunately, I believe this policy is anachronistic for the 21st century and the anonymous, closed-door methods that you have chosen to review this policy are a further stain to the BSA organization. What was once known as the most wholesome organizations of America is now seen as one of it's last bastions of bigotry.

I cannot in good conscience continue to allow myself to be associated with an organization with such seemingly divergent views from my own, not to mention inconsistent with the fundamental values that I learned in scouting. As an information security consultant, I see everyone's dirty laundry. It's critical that I maintain my own credibility and trustworthiness. It is my belief that I can no longer do that by maintaining an association with the Boy Scouts of America.

Effective immediately, I will no longer refer to myself as an Eagle Scout. Although it brings me great sadness to acknowledge this separation, what makes me even more sad is that you would no longer have me, a self-identified atheist for most of my adult life, as a member anyway. Having no children, I have given little consideration to continued scouting involvement for the past 20 years, but I would like to think that I have much to offer the younger generation in terms of skills and experiences. Yet the Board would deny us both because of who I am.

Although I consider it to be a vary small part of who I am, being an atheist is still very much a part of who I am and influences many of my decisions, both conscious and unconscious. On that note, I would like to say that I believe the decision to continue the exclusion policy was wrong not only from a moral perspective, but also from a rational one. If you desire to change the attitudes of persons of “undesirable” religious affiliations and sexual orientation, would not the best way to do that be to include them and try to set a “better” example? Or is the Council so terrified that there might be something to be learned by counter example of the “undesirables”?

Furthermore, it seems that the Board rejected the obvious compromise of allowing the exclusion policy to be implemented at the unit level, rather than at the national level. It's my understanding that this reflects what is actually happening in practice in most areas today anyway. All I can say is that I know my adult life would have been different, probably in negative ways, if not for my time in scouting. I believe that everyone has something to contribute. The exclusion policy not only denies the experiences that I had to other decent human beings, but also diminishes the experiences of those who are included.

I appeal to you to reconsider the exclusion policy of the Boy Scouts of America. If you do, I think I would like to come back to scouting.

Sincerely,
William Lynch
Former Eagle Scout, Troop 17, 1993-2012

It's worth remembering that this is not a new movement. This policy has been around for a long time ... and Eagle Scouts have been resigning all along. Eric Ray sent the Boy Scouts of America this letter in 2000.

As an Eagle Scout, I feel I must make my voice heard about the Boy Scout policy on discrimination. For years I remained silent on these issues mostly because they did not apply to me. However, one of the most important principles in a constitutional society is that the denial of civil liberties to one group is a threat to the liberties of all groups.

Initially, I was most concerned specifically about the policy banning atheists, agnostics, and freethinkers from the BSA. While I certainly had religious beliefs when I became an Eagle Scout in 1990 at the age of fourteen, I have since moved away from organized religion. I find it deeply troubling that today I would not even be eligible for membership in the organization simply because of my agnosticism. So am I no longer to be considered a "moral" person because I do not subscribe to a literal interpretation of religious scripture? I would submit to you that it is not I who has changed, but rather the Scouting organization that has not lived up to its own values.

Recently, I have become interested in the Scouting policy of banning homosexuals as members and leaders. I suppose one of the reasons this had never gained my attention earlier is the fact that such discrimination is not mentioned anywhere in BSA handbooks or policies! I had mixed feelings about the recent Supreme Court decision of Dale vs. BSA. While I agree that a private group does have the right to determine its membership criteria, I believed that the principles embodying the Boy Scout organization would preclude it from hiding behind such protections.

It is truly a sad day for me when the Boy Scouts of America is placed in the same category as a White Supremacist organization such as the KKK. Despite my years of happy membership in the organization, I am now ashamed to be a member. While I disagree strongly with the BSA becoming a discriminatory private organization, rather than an inclusive public accommodation, I believe that the organization has the right to become what it wishes. However, in order be consistent with remaining truly private, the BSA must now voluntarily completely separate itself from government assistance, whether this be direct financial support from the United Way, associations with public services such as fire or police departments, subsidization of campgrounds at military installations, as well as the symbolic position of head of the BSA held by the President of the United States.

To accept government assistance while discriminating against entire classes of citizens is to violate the principles of honesty and integrity which the Boy Scouts hold so dear. Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this situation is the expulsion of Boy Scout members simply because they vocally disagree with BSA discrimination policy. Such activities are the antithesis of democratic principles.

Thinking people can disagree on such matters, but to eliminate opposition is the act of tyranny. To this end, I am enclosing my most cherished possession from Scouting, my Eagle Scout badge, as an act of protest. While I'm sure such commonplace actions are of little consequence, I would hope that you would consider just one thing. The Boy Scouts of America organization was created for its members. If the Scouts themselves leave it, then what is left?

Sincerely,
Eric S. Ray, Eagle Scout

Read the original post, featuring a letters from my husband and six other men, plus links to more

Join Scouts for Equality, an organization founded by Eagle Scout Zach Wahls.

If you want to write to the BSA, here's the address:
BSA National Executive Board
1325 Walnut Hill Lane
PO Box 152079
Irving, Texas 75015-2079

If you aren't familiar with American Boy Scouting's Eagle Scout award, it might be a little hard to explain how important this story really is. Eagle Scout is a big deal. For one thing, it takes a lot of work to get the position. A scout has to earn 21 merit badges and then spearhead a community service project that they organize and manage themselves from start to finish. Add to that the fact that most kids don't stay in scouts through high school anyway, and you end up with the award representing a relatively small and elite group. Since 1911, about 2.1 million men have earned an Eagle Scout award. And it has serious implications once you graduate high school. There are scholarships. Eagle Scouts who enlist in the military after high school can start off with a higher rank than their peers. The adult Eagle Scouts I know have told me that they've gotten interview call-backs or even job opportunities because the award was on their resumes. Basically, it's more than just this medal you pick up at age 17. For many men, it's a lifelong position—and one that demonstrates a commitment to serving others and caring for the community.

So when Eagle Scouts start returning their medals to the Boy Scouts of America, that matters. Especially when these men are making this decision because they think it's the best way to demonstrate the values of being an Eagle Scout.

The Boy Scouts of America bans participation in scouting by openly gay, bisexual, or transgender kids and bans GBLT adults from serving as scout masters. Legally, that's their right as a private organization. But that doesn't make it the right thing to do. Since the BSA doubled down on that position on July 17, I've seen letters from numerous Eagle Scouts who have sent their hard-earned awards back to the organization.

The letter pictured above was written by my husband, Christopher Baker. He mailed off his medal on Saturday. You can read the full text below.

To Bob Mazzuca, Chief Scout Executive and the BSA National Executive Board,

As a Boy Scout I was taught that ethics are important and that when something is unethical you should stand up and say something. I was taught that it is wrong to exclude people, whether based on race, physical ability or sexual orientation. I was taught that a Boy Scout stands with those being persecuted, and not with the persecutor.

Banning openly gay scouts and leaders is not a neutral position anymore than separate but equal was a neutral policy on race. Gay scouts and leaders have the right and obligation to be true to themselves. Homosexuality is not a moral deviance, bigotry is. Parents’ rights to discuss sexuality with their children should not be extended to banning the participation of openly gay scouts anymore than Jewish religious practices require the banning of bacon on a camp out, or Christian Science religious practices require Scouts to forego first aid training.

Today I am returning my Eagle Scout medal because I do not want to be associated with the bigotry for which it now stands. I hope that one day BSA stands up for all boys. It saddens me that until that day comes any sons of mine will not participate in the Boy Scouts.

Being morally straight means standing up for equal rights and inclusion, not bigotry.

Disappointedly,

Christopher Baker, AIA, PE, MBA
Former Senior Patrol Leader of Troop 261

I am incredibly proud of my husband, a straight man, for standing up for the equality of all people. I'm putting in links to a few other examples of this protest down below. But I know a bunch have turned up on Reddit and Facebook, and I'm sure I don't have them all. If you know of a letter that's not linked to, let me know.

And if you're one of the Eagle Scouts who has chosen to join this protest, send me a photo of your letter. I'd like to post more of these, and honor the men (queer and straight) who have chosen to take their commitment to public service seriously.

If you choose to do this, my husband has verified that this is the correct address to mail your letter and medal to:
BSA National Executive Board
1325 Walnut Hill Lane
PO Box 152079
Irving, Texas 75015-2079

Finally, I think it's worth noting that participating in Boy Scouts is falling significantly. Since 1999, the total number of traditional scouts has fallen by 20%. Who knows how much of that has to do with this discriminatory policy—it's certainly not the only thing affecting membership numbers. But, at the very least, this should be a sign that setting yourself up as symbol of bigotry and exclusion doesn't make your organization grow.

UPDATE: I got my first photo from a BoingBoing reader already. Andrew Reinhard earned his Eagle Scout award in 1986. He sent it back last week.

Here's the text from Andrew's letter:

Dear Mr. Mazzuca,

I am writing in support of my fellow Scouts who are aversely affected by your announcement of July 17th. I cannot begin to express my disappointment and utter bewilderment in the BSA’s decision to continue to discriminate against Scouts and Scouters (and potential Scouts and Scouters) based on sexual orientation. I’m straight, earned my Eagle in 1986, and am a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow. I was secretary of Seminole Lodge 85. I was a guide at the Maine National High Adventure Base (Matagamon). I enjoyed some of the best years of my life as a Cub, Scout, and Explorer. Serving on the Arena Shows staff for the National Jamboree was a highlight, especially when I got to meet fellow Eagle Scout, Steven Spielberg.

I have loved scouting and, had I had a son instead of a daughter, would have enjoyed seeing him learn to love the outdoors, become self-reliant, and also learn to respect his peers, all within the context of the BSA. Now I’ve changed my mind. I cannot understand the BSA’s decision. It is a stain on the otherwise exceptional reputation of the Boy Scouts of America. You and the current leadership at the national level should “be prepared” for significant fall-out from this decision. As you well know, a Scout is courteous and kind, and this discriminatory policy is in violation of at least those two tenants of the Scout Law. It is certainly not a “brave” decision.

From an organization that taught me how to be a man and how to be helpful to others, what I held great pride in now carries shame. I am not alone in feeling this way. I would greatly urge the BSA to “do a good turn” and immediately reverse this decision. If the US Armed Forces can get beyond “don’t ask, don’t tell”, certainly the Scouts can do the same and attempt to maintain some semblance of honor.

In Scouting,
Andrew Reinhard

UPDATE #2: Leo A. P. Giannini also contacted me, and sent over a picture of his Eagle Scout resignation letter.

Here's the text. This one is a gut-wrencher:

My name is Leo A. P. Giannini. It is with great sadness that I am returning the Eagle pin and patch in protest of the BSA’s policy of "not granting membership to open or avowed homosexuals." This practice is disgraceful as much as it is discriminatory and I will not allow myself to participate in it.

I earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 2005 as a member of Troop 1 in Pittsfield, MA. As a participant in Scouting for 13 years prior to this achievement, earning my Eagle Scout badge is by far one of my greatest achievements.

It wouldn’t be fair if I told you what it feels like to be excluded from scouts because of sexual orientation, I wouldn’t know, and as a straight man a long way off from being a father, I don’t have a dog in this fight. I have no doubt that one day whether it is tomorrow or a decade from now The Boy Scouts of America will allow open or avowed homosexuals to join, but I cannot sit back and watch as a member of an organization on the wrong side of history.

I am giving back my proudest possessions because I don’t want to have my son or daughter one day say to me, “Did you know you were a member when the Boy Scouts used to not allow gay people to join?” As an 11 year old, I remember my mother’s face contorting trying to hide the guilt after I asked her what it was like attending school in segregated North Carolina. That won’t be me.

Scouting is a part of me, and what sickens me is that the organization which I believe guided me into the becoming the man I am today, has practices that go against the very principles I took from it. Scouting was more than weekend campfires, monthly trips and Wednesday snacks. As a 12 year old it was an assistant scoutmaster and his wife that came to my soccer games when my father and mother split up and my mother was incapable of attending because she was recovering from pancreatic cancer. As a 13 year old it was a fellow scout that told me life was worth living. When I was 15, I lost 35 pounds so that I could hike with my fellow scouts at Philmont that summer. In 2004, a conversation with an assistant scoutmaster from my troop convinced me I had to apply to college and in 2005 a stranger helped me with my Eagle Project; before passing away from colon cancer in 2007 gave me seed money to start a business that was eventually acquired in 2009.

I’m not saying this to gloat; I’m saying this because I want to show you what scouting has done for me. At 17, after a lackluster academic and athletic career becoming an Eagle Scout was the only thing that made me in any way exceptional and different, it was the only thing that I actually ever felt I was a part of, and as a result, the only thing I was really proud of.

I want you to think about what you may be doing to a kid, maybe just as screwed up as I was at 13 or an adult who just wants to give back, but can’t because ten years after he left scouts as a young man he came out. The right decision will be made whether or not if happens now, you have the chance to live and act by the principles you and every other scout I know is proud to have. I trust you will take action.

UPDATE #3: Here's one from Curtis Markham, who linked to it in the comments.

UPDATE #4: Here are three more letters, sent in by BoingBoing readers.

First up, a photo of the letter sent in by Robert Paxton.

Second, here's the text of the letter mailed to the BSA by Andrew Stanton:

To the Members of the National Council:

I am Andrew Stanton, an Eagle Scout and Assistant Scoutmaster of Troop [Redacted from public view]. I received my Eagle rank May 26, 1998. I have always been very proud of my achievement in making Eagle and I feel honor-bound to give back to the Organization that helped me so much when I was a youth. Imparting what I have learned to the next generations of Scouts and seeing them flourish in their lives has been and will always be one of the greatest gifts I could have.

However, I have always felt ashamed of supporting an organization that is openly hostile to an estimated 10% of the American population who are gay. I have worked with and am close friends with several Scouts (Eagles included) whom are gay, but had to hide who they were in order to stay part of Scouting. Their reasons are their own, but I can surmise it was for much the same as mine – giving back to the kids coming through the program now; National’s policy be damned.

Debating gay and lesbian friends over the benefits of Scouting versus this institutional bigotry has weighed heavily on me for some time. Now due to the recent decision by the National Council to uphold its policy on banning gays from participating or volunteering in Scouts, I can no longer support the Boy Scouts of America. I am returning my Eagle Scout rank and Order of the Arrow Ordeal sash. Until such time that the National Council recognizes the error of their decision I will not participate within Scouting as a whole.

I am not the first to do this in protest and I know I will not be the last. Please do what is right and reverse this policy. Allowing it to stand only serves to hurt those whom Scouting is meant to be for – the Scouts themselves – preventing them from the benefit of knowledge from good, honorable leaders whose sexual orientation happens to differ from your own and by denying gay youth the opportunity to experience the joy and pride of becoming Eagles themselves.

Yours in Scouting,
Andrew T. Stanton

Finally, Jeff Hess hasn't posted the text of his letter to the BSA, but he does have links to several other Eagle Scout resignation letters, and he had this to say, "Today I’m wrapping up my medal and returning it to the small and ignorant men who have so dishonorably abandoned the American values that I came to understand were embodied in the honor. I no longer want to have the award in my possession."

UPDATE #5: Honestly, the fact that I've had to update this post so many times is extremely heartening to me. Seriously, I am proud of you guys. And so are many other people. This one comes from reader Daniel Kane. He's not just an Eagle Scout, he's also a former Boy Scout camp counselor. Daniel says, "I'm an Eagle Scout who has been disgusted with BSA for awhile, and wasn't sure what to do about it. Thanks to your article, I'm mailing back my medal now."

This is a long letter, but worth reading:

From the day I joined Troop 55, Glen Ridge NJ in November 1996, Scouting has played a major role in my life. My formative years were shaped by the Boy Scouts in powerful ways. I became a leader, because I didn’t have a choice, and because I was taught to work with others, rather than settling for being a loner. Thanks to Scouting, I became a man, something many people who are supposed to be adults have failed to do. Even nine years after I last attended meetings regularly, I can still name the Scout Laws, Oath, Motto, and Slogan off the top of my head, and still try to live my life by the ideals I learned through scouting.

Many of the greatest lessons and rites of passage in my life were a result of scouting. Through my troop, I learned to trust others, but also to question them. I learned that sometimes leading is doing what others don’t want to, and sometimes it is letting them suffer from the work they didn’t complete so they become accountable. I will never forget the work I put in as a Patrol Leader and Senior Patrol Leader, or the year I was a Den Chief and earned the Den Chief service award by basically running the den because the Den Mother didn’t have time. As a scout I learned to make leave a campsite better than I found it, and from that basic lesson, to leave the world better than I found it. My first job was aquatics counselor at Rodney Scout Reservation, and I grew more in my two summers as an Aquat than any other time in my life. Although we rarely see each other now, I trust my brothers from my troop like family, and always will. As you can imagine, very few achievements mean as much to me as earning the rank of Eagle Scout.

Despite the pride that I felt at that final Board of Review, I also felt a twinge of guilt. By the time I made Eagle, the Boy Scouts of America had already decided to ban homosexuals from membership. I rationalized my decision to remain in scouts despite my moral qualms. I reminded myself that my scoutmaster, in an incredibly courageous moment, had announced that he would never enforce the ban. I convinced myself that I had earned the rank, deserved it, and, since I was straight, was not breaking any rules be accepting it. Finally, I was unwilling to break away from my brothers in the troop. Therefore, I put my guilt aside, and allowed myself to celebrate what will always be one of my greatest achievements, rather than standing up for those who would never get to celebrate this moment, no matter how deserving they were.

As I have grown older, however, I have not been able to conveniently ignore my conscience. Boy Scouts taught me to be brave and honorable. Because I am, I cannot be a part of an organization that discriminates. There is nothing in the Scout Laws or Oath that condemns homosexuality. There is no legal justification for treating homosexuals any differently. I know that certain religions ban homosexuality, and that the law “reverent” has been used to justify BSA’s ban of homosexuals, but many religions have no problem with the queer community, and BSA has never required its members to worship the same god, so that justification should go out the window.

One of the greatest lessons I learned from my time in scouts was to work with people who were different from me, people who disagree with me. It is a skill I struggle with today, but my journey to Eagle taught me that it is a fight worth fighting, that the world is a richer place because of its diversity, and that all people can contribute something worthwhile. That is the basis of democracy. It therefore saddens me to see the organization that forced me to learn this lesson shutting its doors to people some of its leaders happen to disagree with.

It is also disturbing that an organization that stresses the importance of democracy would put bigotry ahead of that ideal. Just as a petition was delivered to BAS asking for a new vote on anti- gay policy, a secret committee chose to uphold the ban without a vote. One of the consequences of democracy is living with the results, even when we do not agree with them. I do not know how I would respond to an executive board voting to continue the ban, and apparently I will never know, because a few people would rather prevent the democratic process from happening. I do know that I now have a new reason to be disgusted with BSA.

Most importantly, it is my firm conviction that this nation’s greatest sin is discrimination against homosexuals. I know the Boy Scouts are not alone in this act, but the Boy Scouts are the organization that matters most to me. Discrimination is not a victimless crime. Based on data compiled by the FBI and the analysis of the Southern Poverty Law Center, homosexuals are more likely to be victims of violent hate crime than any other minority group in the United States. I am not saying that BSA encourages hate crimes, but by portraying homosexuals as deviant, BSA makes it easier for less stable, more violent people to justify their heinous actions. Furthermore, gay youth, the very people you have excluded, are more likely to commit suicide than the general population. Many suicide victims kill themselves because they feel ostracized.

While you have the right to limit your membership, there is blood on your hands, whether you foresaw it or not.

I do not believe that homosexuality is a sin. I do believe that discrimination is. I do believe that making a large group of young people feel less than human because of something they cannot control is a sin. I accept that I do not speak for God, and may be wrong, but even if I am wrong, Jesus Christ told us to love God and love one another. He told us “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” By excluding gay scouts, BSA leadership is failing to love a large group of people, and continues to throw stones. Whatever deity we have chosen to follow, we can agree to love each other and not kick those who are down.

I learned from the Boy Scouts to be a leader, not a follower. I learned to make tough decisions and stick with them. I have always done my best to do my duty to God and my country, and to keep myself morally straight. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that I renounce all affiliation with the Boy Scouts of America. I will continue to use the lessons I learned from scouting in my life, and it saddens me that an organization that meant so much to me is now so strongly opposed to my value system, that my children will not benefit from the support system scouting gave me unless something drastic changes, but I will deal with that sadness.

I would like to thank you for the guidance you gave me as I grew, and hope to be able to rejoin your ranks some day.

UPDATE #6: Here is something for those of you who have spoken in the comments about wanting to change scouting from the inside. Zach Wahls is the young man who spoke to the Iowa State Legislature last year about his moms and why he wants Iowa to have equal rights protecting gay and lesbian couples.

He's also the co-founder of Scouts for Equality, an organization made up of active scouts and scout leaders attempting to change BSA policy. It's a relatively new organization, and I'm not sure exactly what they're going to be doing to achieve this goal. For now, you can join their mailing list, sign their petition, and share your story as a scout who wants BSA to reflect values of equality and inclusion, rather than discrimination.

Letter from Eagle Scout Martin Cizmar

Letter from Reddit user Papagoose

Eagle Scout Jim Morrison talks about sending his medal back in a video

Letter from Eagle Scout Peter Straub

Letter from Eagle Scout Matthew Hitchens (published online by a friend of his)

Letter from Eagle Scout and political cartoonist Rob Tornoe

Of course, the neglect of women -- and other groups of systematically disenfranchised people, like gblt people and people of color -- is a recurring theme in the history of business. And periodically (generally in the midst of a recession that makes the previously unthinkable into the inevitable), some industry will figure out that there's a group of people whom they've ignored or held in contempt with a lot of money on their hands, and you get a new boom of targeted products, media and advertising. And exploitation, of course. Lots of exploitation.

Terry O'Reilly's "Age of Persuasion" podcast has done some good episodes on these turns in advertising history -- here's one on women, one on people of color, and one on gblt-targeted ads.

How can an industry get its market so wrong?

One huge reason is the relative lack of women at major venture capital firms, startups, electronics makers, and Internet companies. The other huge reason is the historical erasure of women's roles in the history of technology, as Xeni Jardin pointed out in response to a New York Times article that overemphasized the role men have played in the creation of the Internet. When you look around, it *seems* as if technology is by and for dudes, but the reality is much more complicated than that.

But even if you are the biggest sexist in Menlo Park, even if you believe that only men create technology, even if you are real-life Jack Donaghy hell bent on profits alone, you'd still want to change your approach to women as technology consumers. Follow the money and follow the users: you'll find yourself in a female-dominated landscape.

Bell concludes: "So it turns out if you want to find out what the future looks like, you should be asking women. And just before you think that means you should be asking 18-year-old women, it actually turns out the majority of technology users are women in their 40s, 50s and 60s. So if you wanted to know what the future looks like, those turn out to be the heaviest users of the most successful and most popular technologies on the planet as we speak."

Sorry, Young Man, You're Not the Most Important Demographic in Tech (via /.) ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/06/09/women-beat-18-34-men-for-tech.html/feed 48 http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/sign-a-petition-for-a-guilt.html http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/sign-a-petition-for-a-guilt.html#comments Fri, 25 May 2012 16:02:48 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=163023 Robert sez, "Azerbaijan is hosting the final of this Saturday's Eurovision song contest. Amidst the absurdity and kitsch, human rights groups are worried that Azerbaijan's autocratic government will use the occasion to airbrush its appalling treatment of journalists and activists. Index on Censorship is asking Boing Boing readers to make the President of Azerbaijan face the music during #Eurovision, by signing a petition demanding he end the persecution of writers and artists who speak truth to power."

My father was born in a refugee camp in Azerbaijan -- to Russian/Polish/Belarusian parents -- and I've always felt a distant kinship to the place, enough so that I take this sort of thing more personally than I would if it were in another post-Soviet Asian dictatorship. I signed.

The Eurovision Song Contest is a guilty pleasure for millions across Europe. But this year the competition has a dark side – it’s being hosted by Azerbaijan, a country whose people face violence, prison and persecution for exercising their right to free speech. On 18 April, Idrak Abbasov, an investigative reporter who won the Guardian/Index Award, was beaten unconscious by private security guards while the police looked on.

Other journalists have been attacked, abducted and tortured. In November 2011, writer Rafiq Tagi was attacked outside his home and later died. No one has been brought to justice for his murder. In fact, in the last seven years, there have been no arrests or prosecutions related to violence against journalists.

But it’s not just journalists – musicians, gay rights campaigners and political activists are also under attack.

Raise your voice for free speech in Azerbaijan (Thanks, Robert!) ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/05/25/sign-a-petition-for-a-guilt.html/feed 9 http://boingboing.net/2012/04/25/alan-turings-obituaries.html http://boingboing.net/2012/04/25/alan-turings-obituaries.html#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 04:13:44 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=156732 David Stutz has posted a small collection of obituaries for Alan Turing after he was hounded to suicide as a punishment for being gay. Here's my favorite:

“For those who knew him here [at Sherborne] the memory is of an even-tempered, lovable character with an impish sense of humour and a modesty proof against all achievement. You would not take him for a Wrangler, the youngest Fellow of King’s and the youngest F.R.S. [Fellow of the Royal Society], or as a Marathon runner, or that behind a negligé appearance he was intensely practical. Rather you recollected him as one who buttered his porridge, brewed scientific concoctions in his study, suspended a weighted string from the staircase wall and set it swinging before Chapel to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth by its change of direcction by noon, produced proofs of the postulates of Euclid, or brought bottles of imprisoned flies to study their “decadence” by inbreeding. On holidays in Cornwall or Sark he was a lively companion even to the extent of mixed bathing at midnight. During the war he was engaged in breaking down enemy codes, and had under him a regiment of girls, supervised to his amusement by a dragon of a female. His work was hush-hush, not to be divulged even to his mother. For it he was awarded the O.B.E. He also adopted a young Jewish refugee and saw him through his education. Besides long distance running, his hobbies were gardening and chess; and occasionally realistic water-colour painting.

In all his preoccupation with logic, mathematics, and science he never lost the common touch; in a short life he accomplished much, and to the roll of great names in the history of his particular studies added his own.” — The Sherbornian, Summer Term 1954

obituary quotations ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/04/25/alan-turings-obituaries.html/feed 7 http://boingboing.net/2012/04/25/proposed-solution-for-in-game.html http://boingboing.net/2012/04/25/proposed-solution-for-in-game.html#comments Wed, 25 Apr 2012 23:13:57 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=156639 Harassment" episode looks at the phenomenon of in-game trolling, with its disproportionate emphasis on racism, homophobia and sexism, and suggests a solution: identify players who are muted more often than the norm, and set them to "auto-muted" when they join games, and have guild efficacy decline based on the number of automuted players in them. The idea is to create social pressure that make bullying into something that makes gaming suck for bullies. ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/04/25/proposed-solution-for-in-game.html/feed 31 http://boingboing.net/2012/02/20/god-hates-checkered-whiptail-l.html http://boingboing.net/2012/02/20/god-hates-checkered-whiptail-l.html#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:56:31 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=144735
Lauren, proprietor of the LAMP zine, got frustrated after arguing with a homophobe on Facebook, so she whipped (!) up a parody of a fundamentalist tract called GOD HATES CHECKERED WHIPTAIL LIZARDS, detailing all the ways in which the parthenogenetic, pseudocoupling titular lizards were a perversion of God's will. Someone phonecammed the tract and posted it to Reddit, and 2.3 million views later, it was Internet history. Lauren was good enough to post a printable PDF on a Tumblr sites for others who'd like to spread the gospel.

GOD HATES CHECKERED WHIPTAIL LIZARDS ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/02/20/god-hates-checkered-whiptail-l.html/feed 33 http://boingboing.net/2012/02/11/republican-in-washington-state.html http://boingboing.net/2012/02/11/republican-in-washington-state.html#comments Sat, 11 Feb 2012 14:44:47 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=143443

Here's Washington State rep Maureen Walsh, a Republican, explaining to her colleagues why her she was breaking with the party line and voting in favor of same-sex marriage. It's an emotional, moving address, and Walsh, together with one of her GOP colleagues, helped carry the motion, paving the way for legalizing same-sex marriage in Washington State.

You know, years ago, my daughter went to, she was in elementary school. Many of you have met my daughter. She’s a fabulous girl. She’s wonderful. My boys are great too, but my daughter is just something special, and she was the light of her father’s eyes. And she went to school and there were some kids that were, a whole group of kids that were picking on another kid. And you know, my daughter stood up for that kid, even though it was not the popular thing to do. She knew it was the right thing to do. And I was never more proud of my kid, knowing that she was speaking against the vocal majority on behalf of the rights of the minority.

And to me, it is incumbent upon us as legislators in this state to do that. That is why we are here, and I shudder to think that if folks who had proceeded us in history did not do that, frankly I’m not sure I would be here as a woman. I’m not sure that others would be here due to their race, or their creed. And to me, that is what’s disconcerting.

The Most Powerful Argument For Gay Marriage From A Republican ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/02/11/republican-in-washington-state.html/feed 66 http://boingboing.net/2011/12/07/little-boy-talks-to-michele-ba.html http://boingboing.net/2011/12/07/little-boy-talks-to-michele-ba.html#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:05:28 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=133134

Eight-year-old Elijah and his mom attended a Michele Bachmann book signing. As Bachmann greeted the little boy, he told her, "My mommy's gay but she doesn't need fixing." The expression on Ms Bachmann's face at that juncture is the definition of priceless.

Activist Elijah With Michele Bachmann (via Beth Pratt) ]]> http://boingboing.net/2011/12/07/little-boy-talks-to-michele-ba.html/feed 14 http://boingboing.net/2011/12/07/petition-to-get-a-pardon-for-t.html http://boingboing.net/2011/12/07/petition-to-get-a-pardon-for-t.html#comments Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:02:27 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=133117 The UK government has officially apologised to computing giant and war hero Alan Turing for forcing him to take hormone injections as "therapy" for being gay (driving him to suicide), but now a petition has been mounted to get an official pardon Turing's 1952 for "gross indecency."

We ask the HM Government to grant a pardon to Alan Turing for the conviction of 'gross indecency'. In 1952, he was convicted of 'gross indecency' with another man and was forced to undergo so-called 'organo-therapy' - chemical castration. Two years later, he killed himself with cyanide, aged just 41. Alan Turing was driven to a terrible despair and early death by the nation he'd done so much to save. This remains a shame on the UK government and UK history. A pardon can go to some way to healing this damage. It may act as an apology to many of the other gay men, not as well known as Alan Turing, who were subjected to these laws.

Grant a pardon to Alan Turing ]]> http://boingboing.net/2011/12/07/petition-to-get-a-pardon-for-t.html/feed 46 http://boingboing.net/2011/12/01/honors-for-under-the-poppy.html http://boingboing.net/2011/12/01/honors-for-under-the-poppy.html#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:11:39 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=132415 winning the Gaylactic Spectrum award (a prize given to queer-friendly science fiction and fantasy) for her stellar novel Under the Poppy. ]]> http://boingboing.net/2011/12/01/honors-for-under-the-poppy.html/feed 0 http://boingboing.net/2011/12/01/young-iowan-gives-lawmakers-an.html http://boingboing.net/2011/12/01/young-iowan-gives-lawmakers-an.html#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:05:38 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=132409

Zach Wahls, a sixth-generation Iowan and Eagle Scout, gives incredibly moving, well-spoken testimony to the state legislature on the issue of same-sex marriage, talking about the way that being raised by his two moms made him the impressive fellow he is today, and the material injustice of rules prohibiting same-sex marriage.

Update: Derp, it's a repost. But Zach is such a dude, he deserves a second airing.

Two lesbians raised a baby and this is what it ended up as. (youtube.com) ]]> http://boingboing.net/2011/12/01/young-iowan-gives-lawmakers-an.html/feed 51 http://boingboing.net/2011/11/10/bechdels-fun-home-t.html http://boingboing.net/2011/11/10/bechdels-fun-home-t.html#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:02:48 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=128541 "Fun Home," Alison Bechdel's brilliant graphic novel memoir (review here) is being adapted for musical theater:

“My father and I grew up in the same small Pennsylvania town and he was gay and I was gay and he killed himself and I became a lesbian cartoonist,” Bechdel's character says in Fun Home.

Kron is a founding member of the theater company Five Lesbian Brothers and an Obie Award winning playwright for her autobiographical play 2.5 Minute Ride.

Tony nominated composer Tesori won the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a play with her compositions for Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center and she also picked up the Obie Award for the score for 1997’s off-Broadway show Violet as well as composing 11 new songs for a production of Thouroughly Modern Millie that transferred to Broadway in 2002.

Alison Bechdel's Graphic Novel 'Fun Home' to Become a Stage Musical (via The Mary Sue) ]]> http://boingboing.net/2011/11/10/bechdels-fun-home-t.html/feed 6 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/29/hunky-librarian-catalog-to-benefit-it-gets-better-project.html http://boingboing.net/2011/09/29/hunky-librarian-catalog-to-benefit-it-gets-better-project.html#comments Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:05:29 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=120854 "Men of the Stacks" is a beefcake calendar featuring hunky librarians, with proceeds to the It Gets Better project.

(Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

Men of the Stacks [menofthestacks.com]]]> http://boingboing.net/2011/09/29/hunky-librarian-catalog-to-benefit-it-gets-better-project.html/feed 22 http://boingboing.net/2011/09/21/indiscriminate-squid-sperm-distribution-is-not-bisexual.html http://boingboing.net/2011/09/21/indiscriminate-squid-sperm-distribution-is-not-bisexual.html#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:32:47 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=118761 the discovery that the male of a species of squid reproduces by showering other squids with sperm regardless of their sex doesn't make the squid "bisexual." Not that there's anything wrong with that.

This is a beautiful illustration of the flaw in applying human sexual conventions to non-human organisms. researchers studying deep-sea squid found that all of the squid, male and female alike, were speckled with sperm packets — the males just flick these things out at any passing squid, on the chance that it's a female. It's silly to call this bisexuality or same-sex mating, though — it's pretty darned common in invertebrates. Many species of sea urchins, for instance, indulge in synchronized ejaculatory orgies: on one or a few days a year, all of the individuals in a colony simultaneously spew eggs and sperm into the water, to the degree that they can turn the ocean milky white with semen and ova. Do we call that homosexuality? Is it even right to refer to it as an "orgy"? It's just indiscriminate fertilization.

"There have been very many cases of people being detained at airports by immigration in foreign countries simply because their passports don't reflect what they look like," she told Australian radio.

"It's very distressing, highly inconvenient and frankly sometimes dangerous." New Australian passports allow third gender option ]]> http://boingboing.net/2011/09/15/third-gender-option-added-to-australian-passports.html/feed 63 http://boingboing.net/2011/08/12/doctor-tried-to-cure-homosexuality-by-tasping-gay-man-while-he-had-sex-with-female-prostitute.html http://boingboing.net/2011/08/12/doctor-tried-to-cure-homosexuality-by-tasping-gay-man-while-he-had-sex-with-female-prostitute.html#comments Fri, 12 Aug 2011 16:21:20 +0000 Cory Doctorow http://boingboing.net/?p=112902 Pleasure and brain activity in man: Deep and surface electroencephalograms during orgasm details an insane experiment in which a suicidal, drug-addicted gay man was wired up with deep-brain stimulators; the good doctor then paid a prostitute to screw said suicidal, drug-addicted gay man. The experiment's purpose? TO CURE TEH GAY!

...the patient was equipped with a three-button self-stimulating transistorized device... The three buttons... were attached to electrodes in the various deep [brain] sites, and the patient was free to stimulate any of these three sites as he chose... He was permitted to wear the device for 3 hours at a time: on one occasion he stimulated his septal region 1,200 times, on another occasion 1,500 times, and on a third occasion 900 times. He protested each time the unit was taken from him, pleading to self-stimulate just a few more times... the patient reported feelings of pleasure, alertness, and warmth (goodwill); he had feelings of sexual arousal and described a compulsion to masturbate...

One aspect of the total treatment program for this patient was to explore the possibility of altering his sexual orientation through electrical stimulation of pleasure sites of the brain. As indicated in the history, his interests, contacts, and fantasies were exclusively homosexual; heterosexual activities were repugnant to him.

A twenty-one-year-old female prostitute agreed, after being told the circumstances, to spend time with the patient in a specially prepared laboratory.

Oscillatory Thoughts: Self-stimulating the brain for heterosexual sex with a prostitute. Seriously. (via JWZ)]]> http://boingboing.net/2011/08/12/doctor-tried-to-cure-homosexuality-by-tasping-gay-man-while-he-had-sex-with-female-prostitute.html/feed 70 http://boingboing.net/2011/05/18/rick-walker-wants-yo.html http://boingboing.net/2011/05/18/rick-walker-wants-yo.html#comments Tue, 17 May 2011 18:37:52 +0000 Cory Doctorow Wisconsin Family Action sued last year in Dane County circuit court, arguing that the registries violated a 2006 amendment to the state constitution that bans gay marriage and any arrangement that is substantially similar.

Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen refused to defend the lawsuit, saying he agreed the new law violated the state constitution. Then-Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, hired Madison attorney Lester Pines to defend the state.

Walker, a Republican, replaced Doyle in January and fired Pines in March. On Friday, Walker filed a motion to stop defending the case.

"Governor Walker, in deference to the legal opinion of the attorney general that the domestic partner registry...is unconstitutional, does not believe the public interest requires a continued defense of this law," says the brief, filed by Walker's chief counsel, Brian Hagedorn. Walker seeks to stop defense of state's domestic partner registry (via Reddit) ]]> http://boingboing.net/2011/05/18/rick-walker-wants-yo.html/feed 78