Save Bobby

Winston, The Atheist Pig, delivers an important public service announcement.

Mother Speaks Out On B.S.A. Prejudice

(The cartoon above is by Barry Deutsch at leftycartoons.com.)

As you probably know by now, the leadership of the Boy Scouts of America has decided to make it official that one of the values they promote is prejudice. It is now an official policy of the BSA that no child that is gay will be allowed to be a scout, and no gay adult will be allowed to serve as a scout leader. Although they claim it is to protect youths involved in the program, it is clearly a case of organizational religious homophobia (because although pedophiles come in all sexes and sexual preferences, most are heterosexuals as numerous studies have shown).

I had been thinking of posting on this since the decision was made, but a scouting mother, in her open letter to the Boy Scouts of America, has put the issue much better than I could have. Here is her letter:

I am the mother of three boys, ages 9 (bear scout), 6 (tiger cub), and three. I have a brother that is an Eagle scout, and my father was very active in his troop while I was growing up. I am heartbroken tonight because my family has made the very difficult decision to leave scouting. I don't see how I can possibly raise my boys within the BSA organization at this point. I was going to be the tiger den leader this year, and I was so excited to do so. My husband has assisted my eldest son's den since he first joined scouting. We had a family conversation on our way hiking up to the summit of one of New York State's great high peaks, with my husband and I expressing our concerns over the fact that our kids and our family might be able to join the scouts, but there are others who are excluded over their sexuality. Both of the older boys were very upset, the oldest worrying that this means he will never get his arrow of light, or his Eagle... the younger concerned that we would not get our special time in scouts with me as his den leader. He has wanted to be a tiger since the first day he heard about it. We even bought his tiger cub uniform and book first thing this summer. When we explained our concerns to the boys, they couldn't understand why we wanted to leave, since none of us are gay. But that is precisely the point: how can I in good conscience allow my children to be conditioned to stand by while others around them are excluded or oppressed? By staying in the scouts, we would send a message that it is fine to stand by as a school bully attacks a classmate, a husband beats his wife, as women are kept out of schools in the developing world, as humans are enslaved, or as gay families are left out of normal activities in what is supposed to be a great nation. Worse yet, what if one of my wonderful, beautiful, boys is gay as a young adult? Will he have to give back his Eagle award, or just hide who he is to keep it? Will he be removed from a leadership position in his troop? These thoughts are too much to bear, and yet there are boys and families dealing with that exact situation every day in America thanks to your current policy. We joined scouts feeling certain that an organization so concerned with doing "right" would get this one figured out. But then this summer you reaffirmed the gay exclusion policy, and my heart broke. 

Please don't think this means I believe you should be forced by our government to include gays. In fact, quite the opposite is true. I support the BSA in its constitutional right to conduct its private business as it sees fit. I certainly hope federal money, if there is any, goes away, but I am sure the wealthy and successful scout alumni will take care of the BSA. My point is: Just because you CAN be a bigoted organization... SHOULD you be? Just as you have a right to set your organizational standards, my family has a right... maybe even an obligation, to stand up for what we think is morally correct. I don't know if other scout families struggle with this or not. I have heard a lot of talk about "fighting from within". What does this mean exactly? Place pink triangle neckerchiefs on the boys? Gay pride colors added to the pack flag? I don't see how anything will change if families like mine continue to give time and money to a group with such good intentions but such a flawed take on what it means to raise our children properly. The gay agenda? It's the same as yours and mine. My gay friends want to love their husbands and wives in the states where they are lucky enough to have them. They want to be faithful to their partners where they are not allowed to marry. And most importantly, they would love to raise their kids, who are loved beyond belief, without fear of judgement by others wearing a veil of morality. Enough is enough. I really expected the BSA to take the lead on this one, and my disappointment will likely not fade quickly. Even though we were a great scouting family, I am not naive enough to think the BSA will miss us. But I can promise you there will be three boys better off for not having stood by silently while their peers were excluded based on who they, or their parents, are in love with.

Phillie Scouts Can Discriminate - But Not For Free

We've known for a while now that the Boy Scouts of America is not an equal opportunity organization. They discriminate against gays. In 2000, the Supreme Court gave them the right to continue their discrimination, and they have done so.

But the city of Philadelphia does not discriminate in this way. The city has been letting the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts rent city-owned office space for their headquarters. The COL Council has been paying $1 a year in rent. Now the city wants to raise the rent to $200,000 a year, which is the fair-market value of the space.

The city says they cannot legally give an organization that discriminates any kind of reduced rate for rent. To do so would make the city a party to the discrimination. The Boy Scouts must pay the fair-market value, or vacate the space by May 31.

To their credit, the COL Council passed a non-discriminatory policy in 2003, but the national organization forced them to rescind the policy. The National Council said the local councils cannot decide on their own to stop the discrimination. If the National Council wants to discriminate, then everyone in the organization must discriminate.

I applaud this decision by the city of Philadelphia. Just because the Scouts want to discriminate, doesn't mean the city can or should follow suit. The city made the only legal and decent decision that they could.

It simply would not be right for the "Cradle of American Liberty" to deny that liberty to any segment of our population.