Boy Scouts Vow to Continue Excluding Gays

[Gaybutton]

Boy Scouts Leadership Affirms Policy of Excluding 'Open or Avowed' Gays

By the CNN Wire Staff
Tue July 17, 2012

(CNN) -- The Boy Scouts of America announced Tuesday it has affirmed its policy of "not granting membership to open or avowed homosexuals."

The organization's leaders reached that decision after a nearly two-year evaluation and will take no further action on a resolution that has sought a change in policy, it said in a news release. It had said last month that it would consider a resolution asking that local units be allowed to determine their own standards.

BSA's chief scout executive and national president had convoked a committee of volunteers and professional leaders to evaluate the policy.

"The committee's work and conclusion is that this policy 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," the statement said.


Full story: http://us.cnn.com/2012/07/17/us/boy-sco ... index.html

[Gaybutton]

.........remain focused on its mission and the work it is doing to serve more youth

Wonderful! What youth is that, the Hitler Youth? Way to go! If you're going to ban gays, why not also ban racial minorities, religious minorities, people with opposing political views, etc?

Maybe they need to change their uniform to look more like this:

[RichLB]

I wonder if the BSA has considered that continued use of public school buildings, public parks, and other tax payer supported venues could subject them to exposure.

[xiandarkthorne]

Silly me...and here I was, all these years, thinking they were called 'boy' scouts precisely because...

[ceejay]

I wonder if they have ever looked into the history of their founder? Robert Baden Powell may have married, and even had children, but is otherwise reputed to have spent his whole married life sleeping on the verandah. He does seem to have preferred the company of much younger men than himself to that of his wife, and was one of a clique of "confirmed bachelors" (including Cecile Rhodes and Leander Starr Jameson) who had a profound effect on the history of Southern Africa.

Silly me...and here I was, all these years, thinking they were called 'boy' scouts precisely because...

And, of course, he wrote "Scouting for Boys".......................

[bkkguy]

I would love to live in a society where the minority I belong to is not discriminated against, and it is very easy to heap shit on others in discussions like this, but is the BSA really the target we should be attacking here?

what percentage of even liberal middle-American families, let alone the looney left and religious right, would be happy to have their son go of "camping" with an openly gay scout master or a troup with openly gay members?

while I am disappointed that the BSA is still not willing to take a moral stand on this issue, this is a "chicken and egg" scenario and while most local and state governments in the USA, most churches and most small and large businesses struggle to come to terms with acceptance of gay issues I think it is unfair to castigate the BSA and expect them to decimate their support base when their value system may not be that different from the communities in which they operate - let's castigate the community attitudes instead, but as I say it is "chicken and egg"

and I think gaybutton's refernce to the KKK and race issues is a good one - which came first? a change in the attitude of the society or a change in the attitude of organisations in the society?

bkkguy

[crabby]

My little brother is an assistant Scout Master. His 14 y/o son is a member. He has asked me several times, to join his troop on camp outs. I just laughed at the potential headlines in the Birmingham News: 50 y/o homosexual caught taking a shower with 50 teenage Boy Scouts. I would never get out of prison.

[Jomtienbob]

what percentage of even liberal middle-American families, let alone the looney left and religious right, would be happy to have their son go of "camping" with an openly gay scout master or a troup with openly gay members?bkkguy

Let us not forget that not only does the ban on Gays cover scoutmasters, but that it also includes the boys themselves. Gay boys should not have to be exposed to this type of senseless bigotry at such an early age. The hazing they get in school is more than enough.

Gays teach, work in youth detention centers, schools, parks, libraries, and don't seem to be accused of crimes against children any more than the so-called general population.

Indeed, many localities have banned the boy scouts from free facility for this misguided policy.

[Jun]

I would expect this sort of nonsense from a backward organisation with close links to the church.

[Gaybutton]

Obama opposes Boy Scouts' Ban of Gay Members

(CNN) - A White House spokesman said Wednesday that President Barack Obama disagrees with a ban on gays in the Boy Scouts, despite serving as that organization's honorary president.

In July, the Boy Scouts of America announced it had affirmed its policy of "not granting membership to open or avowed homosexuals."

The organization's leaders reached that decision after a nearly two-year evaluation and will take no further action on a resolution that has sought a change in policy, the group said in a news release. The organization had said last month that it would consider a resolution asking that local units be allowed to determine their own standards.

BSA's chief scout executive and national president had convoked a committee of volunteers and professional leaders to evaluate the policy.

On Wednesday, White House spokesman Shin Inouye said Obama recognized the value of the Boy Scouts, but disagreed with their ban on gays.

"The President believes the Boy Scouts is a valuable organization that has helped educate and build character in American boys for more than a century," Inouye wrote. "He also opposes discrimination in all forms, and as such opposes this policy that discriminates on basis of sexual orientation."

Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has supported allowing gays to participate in the Boy Scouts, but he has also supported the Boy Scouts' right to decide its own policies.

On its website, the Boy Scouts write that every president since 1910 - the year of the Scouts' founding - has served as its honorary president.

In a statement, the president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation hailed Obama's decision while criticizing the Boy Scouts' decision to remain closed to gay members.

"Our nation's leaders from across religions and political persuasions have joined hundreds of thousands of Americans in speaking out against the blatant discrimination that the Boy Scouts of America teaches young adults today. It's clear that this outdated policy will be changing in the future," GLAAD President Herndon Graddick wrote.

"How long will the Boy Scouts continue to bully young gay Americans into hiding who they are and hurt children of gay parents by denying their parents an opportunity to participate in their children's lives?"

In May, Obama publicly backed same-sex marriage for the first time in an interview with ABC News. Obama said soon after at a campaign fund-raising event that he believes marriage equality "strengthens families."

"I want everyone treated fairly in this country," Obama said. "We have never gone wrong when we've extended rights and responsibilities to everybody," he said, drawing big applause. "That doesn't weaken families, that strengthens families."

Last week a committee drafting the Democrats' party platform approved language endorsing same-sex marriage. If that position is approved by the full party, it would mark the first time support for same-sex marriage is included in the Democrats' platform.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/20 ... ay-members