<p><a href=“Opinion | Scouting’s Gay Founder? - The New York Times”>Opinion | Scouting’s Gay Founder? - The New York Times;
<p>I’m kind of iffy on the policy change. There was some justification for the policy in the first place. These Boy Scouts go camping and sleep together in tents. Although I don’t expect a gay Boy Scout would do anything questionable, some may feel uncomfortable with that situation. It would be almost the same thing as having a girl share a tent with a boy. Not saying the kid would make a move, but having the possibility of a kid sleeping in the same tent with a boy he found attractive would worry a parent just like it would worry the parent of a girl who was forced to sleep in a tent with a boy.</p>
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As a gay Eagle myself, I was pleasantly surprised by the decision.</p>
<p>Scouting, along with its brother/honors organization OA, was my primary extracurricular in middle and high school besides marching band, and I got a great deal out of it. It taught me useful skills like first aid, basic cooking, and wilderness survival, was a tremendous amount of fun, and was perfect for someone who loves the outdoors like I do. It makes me extremely happy that other gays can (openly) join scouts without fear of official retribution.</p>
<p>A lot of people at school have been talking about this, and one guy who used to be a boy scout said he didn’t agree with the decision because he said he feels that the gay boy scouts will be bullied and targeted because of their sexual orientation. The guy that said this isn’t against gay marriage, but this was just his perspective on things. </p>
<p>Personally, I think this is definitely a step in the right direction, and that it’s pretty unfair to discriminate, but potential bullying worries me. Of course, bullying can obviously happen anywhere, but just a thought.</p>
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<p>???</p>
<p>Wouldn’t the correct response to that be to ban bullies?</p>
<p>I pulled my son out years ago when he was 7 because of BSA stance on this matter. For me, they still have not gone far enough and this does nothing to change my opinion of BSA one iota.</p>
<p>I’m trying to view this as a first step, however it’s just an odd approach that raises more issues than it solves. Just a few:</p>
<p>(1) do gay Eagle Scout have to return their award at age 18?
(2) some boys don’t have their Board of Review until after they turn 18. Will gay scouts be denied this?
(3) many boys don’t have their Eagle Court of Honor until after they are 18. Will they be denied this?
(4) many boys turn 18 during senior year of HS and become an Assistant Scoutmaster. Does this mean they must resign from the troop at that time?</p>
<p>Seems to be an unworkable policy in practice. I know it was a compromise with the conservative religious groups, but just makes no sense to implement. In our district, we supported the policy of letting local units decide for themselves.</p>
<p><a href=“1”>QUOTE=nj2011mom</a> do gay Eagle Scout have to return their award at age 18?
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All boys stop being boy scouts when they turn 18, not just the gay ones.
This only happens if the scoutmaster/et al agree that the scout is substantially done and can have his review after turning 18 for convenience. Boys needing an extension for assorted reasons in order to finish petition their troop.
The Court of Honor is arranged by the troop and family. It isn’t “turning 18” that’s a problem here, it’s being a leader.
Boys don’t automatically become Assistant Scoutmasters. They ALL stop being boy scouts at 18. If they want to be leaders that’s something they have to pursue at that point. None of the issues you have raised are any concern here.</p>
<p>I’d be much more worried about STRAIGHT Boy Scouts having sex with each other (usually one is a bully). This is a very common experience.</p>
<p><a href=“1”>quote</a> do gay Eagle Scout have to return their award at age 18?
(2) some boys don’t have their Board of Review until after they turn 18. Will gay scouts be denied this?
(3) many boys don’t have their Eagle Court of Honor until after they are 18. Will they be denied this?
(4) many boys turn 18 during senior year of HS and become an Assistant Scoutmaster. Does this mean they must resign from the troop at that time?
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Eagle Scout is earned by youth members, and as of Jan. 1, youth members can be (openly) gay. So I think the answer to the first three questions is “no.” The answer to the fourth question, though, as of now, is that the boy can’t be an Assistant Scoutmaster, because that’s an adult leader. He could presumably join a Venturing Crew, however, until the adult leader rule changes. I’ll bet it changes before he ages out of Venturing.</p>
<p>My son is openly gay. He’s very involved in our church - youth group and choir, etc. He always thought it was strange that the only church sponsored group that he couldn’t participate in was Scouts. After all, he goes on plenty of mission trips and campouts with the other church groups, and so far hasn’t attacked a single person! lol 
I personally think the “issue” that gay Scouts will make other Scouts uncomfortable is a huge cop out/red herring/veiled homophobia. After all gay Scouts have been in BSA since time immemorial.</p>
<p>I would add that, as far as I know, even under the old rules, there is nothing that would indicate to Scout leaders that a youth member is gay unless he tells them. In units I know about, nobody would ask, and nobody would do anything about it even if they knew (unless there was inappropriate behavior, which is true of lots of different kinds of behavior). There is no question about it on the joining form, or on any other form. I’ve never heard it asked about at an Eagle Board (or any other Board). The controversial cases have mostly involved adult leaders.</p>
<p>Scouting is about life skills and leadership, not sexuality. All boys deserve the opportunity to be in the troop. My son - a Life scout working towards Eagle - has no problem with gay boys in the troop. We are relieved at the decision.</p>
<p>The vast majority of sexual acting out is perpetrated by heterosexuals. I get outraged when people suggest that homosexuals are, by nature, sexual aggressors. Not true. At all.</p>
<p>My son wasn’t in scouts because of the policy, even though I know lots of people involved with the local troops were gay or had gay friends and family members they loved dearly. He’s grown now but I think I still would be against letting him join with present policy. I felt so sorry for the gay mom in the news recently who became troop leader because the other parents were happy to have her (even though she was reluctant, knowing the policy) and then was told by the national organization she was unwanted. I think BSA will do the right thing eventually and maybe I will have grandsons who join.</p>
<p>I’m choosing to view this as a step in the right direction, just as DA/DT was a step in the right direction back when. And in just the same way, I think it will hasten the day of full acceptance.</p>
<p>I think it’s misguided to not understand that not allowing gay leaders actually creates the situation for pedophiles. Openness is always better. Openness scares off the pedophiles, who operate in the shadows.</p>
<p>The more light, the better.</p>
<p>This conflation of pedophiles and gay men is a really strange misunderstanding of sexuality, just in general, and the mental illness of pedophilia, in specific, which has nothing to do with gender attraction or gender, for that matter.</p>
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I’m not sure I understand the connection you’re getting at. Can you elaborate?</p>
<p>Because, if you have openly gay leaders, then they are just open and everything is out in the open. If you have all this weird closedness around the issue, then the pedophiles benefit from the secrecy surrounding ALL of it.</p>
<p>You see this in the Catholic situation, as well. </p>
<p>Just open the windows, turn on the lights and let it all out in the open. Nothing gets rid of the creepers faster.</p>
<p>Maybe a step in the right direction but surely just a bandaid. You either allow gays or you don’t, period. I’ll believe this is about anti-discrimination when they make a statement about allowing athiests. Many boys I know personally, having been active from cub scouts all the way through, didn’t realize they were making a choice to join as children that would affect their ability to gain Eagle. The boys start thinking on their own and realize that the God" aspect of scouting is something they don’t really believe. Seems like an easy decision but it is not, a 17-year-old having to decide to lie to gain Eagle, or stand up for what they believe and throw it all away. The thought that every good thing they have done or learned is moot due to their lack of religious beliefs is ridiculous.
Sure, you can say they knew the rules when they started, but i assure you when my kids started as Tiger Cubs (6ish?) they certainly did not.</p>
<p>so, eh - maybe a step, hard to say…</p>
<p>So many thoughts here …</p>
<p>First, my older ds was in Scouts and was an Eagle and is agnostic at best.</p>
<p>I applaud this as a step in the right direction and know it’s only a matter of time before gay leaders will be allowed. Many of the leaders in Scouts are former Scouts themselves. I can be patient.</p>
<p>About not supporting Scouts because they didn’t go in whole hog … I wish you’d reconsider. When ds was in Scouts ever year when they did the capital campaign they didn’t get a check from us; instead, they got a nice letter about how we were happy with our local troop/patrol but that we won’t contribute to the larger organization until it changes its stand on allowing gays in Scouts. I’d like to think that we weren’t the only ones who did that and that perhaps the pressure from within is what helped bring about change. For those of you who have never supported Scouting in any form, I think this is the PERFECT year to buy popcorn from the little kid down the street who likely knows nothing about the politics and just wants to camp and fish with his friends. I think Scouts should be rewarded right now to further encourage them to do the right thing. No doubt, money talks, and I think this is the time to even write the national organization and tell them this is the first year you’ve ever bought popcorn because of the change in their stance and that you look forward to the day when even leaders can be gay.</p>
<p>On the religion thing … Hunt can tell you how nervous I was when ds was going up for his Eagle. I PM’d him several times looking for advice on how he should handle questions of religion. Thankfully, it wasn’t an issue. The leaders in the individual troops know these kids and aren’t going to use the Eagle ceremony to play gotcha. They never asked my ds an overtly religious question, no doubt because they knew we didn’t tow the party line on that issue. But they did know ds was an awesome kid who deserved to make Eagle.</p>
<p>So many people who oppose Scouts haven’t been in it and don’t really get that the national organization’s policies don’t reflect the reality on the ground. If they did, I wouldn’t have let my kid stay in Scouts.</p>