What’s a Gay Boy Scout to do?

This week the Boy Scouts of America will vote on whether or not to end its long standing policy against gays as members and leaders. They voted on the same matter last year and upheld the ban against gays.

The Boy Scout’s ruling is archaic, based upon unfounded fears, but old fears are hard to overcome. 

President Obama said that he thinks the Boy Scouts need to remove their ban against gays. “My attitude is … that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does, in every institution and walk of life,” he said.

The truth is that the old guard thinks that if gays are allowed to be Scout Leaders, they will prey upon children. They have confused being gay with being a pedophile. They are not the same thing. 

You would think, given the history of abuses within the organization, the Boy Scouts administration would have figured all that out by now.

But old stereotypes are hard to overcome.

Despite what their own creed says about living honestly, the Boy Scouts administration have cultivated a culture of secrecy and denial.

I’d much rather my child have a Scout Leader who is openly gay than a Scout Leader who is forced to lie about his sexual orientation.

What about you? Do you think it’s time the Boy Scouts revoked their national ban on gays? Or would you be reluctant to let your son and/or grandson be a member of Boy Scouts if you knew his troop leader or District Supervisor was gay?