Boy Scouts
As I posted yesterday I did not play baseball as a kid. What I was involved in was Boy Scouts. I joined in 1969 and in February 1971, I earned the rank of Eagle. In October 1974 I was blessed with being named a vigil member of the Order of Arrow. Both honors mean a great deal to me.
I mention this because today May 23, 2013 the Boy Scouts are due to vote on a universal proposition to allow gay youths into the movement. Perhaps nothing over the last few years has divided the movement I love, more than this issue. It is a divisive proposition for a variety of issues including troop sponsorship (most troops are sponsored by religious organizations which might oppose such a move), the fear of parents withdrawing boys mostly because of the fear of molestation of younger kids by older youth and a general fear that the image of scouting might be altered by a decision to allow gay scouts.
15 months ago I did something that I might not have imaged a few years back. I decided to join a group called Scouts for Equity and Arrowmen for Equality. Both groups advocated for and have advanced the cause of allowing gay leaders and youth into the movement. Over the last few months we have been more successful than I could have imagined. We have, with the help of two national board members, placed the issue front and center with the scouting movement. Along the way we compromised one of aims, that is the addition of gar leaders to the current resolution. Today the proposition facing scouting is for the inclusion of scouts, not leaders. We do have a sense of incremental change.
Seven months ago I was one of the inaugural signers of a petition initiated by Eagle Scouts in support of this position. It was a bold step, in the history of scouting no group of Eagle scouts have banned together in this fashion. It was a difficult decision for many. While I am not gay, some of my brethren are and we all run the risk of forever being forced to prove our sexual preference in order to ever participate with the organization again. Still I did not hesitate to sign. I think what is right is right and to me this is right.
Now I am not saying that those of differing opinion are wrong. Far from it we need to understand that scouting must be inclusive of differing ideas. I personally believe that there is room for both ideas in the movement and I respect the other sides’ opinions. The basis of the disagreement can be found in the Scout Oath:
On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and morally straight.
The term morally straight was actually added after WWII and some believe it means that gays cannot serve in the movement. Obviously I disagree I believe morally straight means being true to oneself, and being willing to stand up even for an unpopular cause if justified. In short I can see both sides of the issue.
So my position actually comes from a deeper feeling. First Scouting has done well to incorporate medically fragile and disabled kids into their ranks. But only up to a point, today kids are allowed in limited numbers at the adventure camps. Philmont, a place I love and attended three times will take diabetics after six months of diagnosis. Still most kids cannot for logistically reasons attend. I did after I was DX’d but I was not allowed to be a camp counselor, since I was diabetic. Something I desperately wanted to do. The rejection led to my departure form scouting. There are safety concerns of course, but this was a blanket ban. In short I know what it means to be forbidden from participation in my case because of diabetes.
Second I was a member of a trop whose leader was later convicted of being a pedophile. I will call him frank the leader was single, a troop leader for over 15 years when convicted and he had a parade of kids in his “good graces”. I was never one, because I had a two parent home, and Frank did not single out kids with strong support systems. In fact, looking back on it with adult eyes I came to understand that Frank wanted me gone more than anything in the world. The longer I stayed the more danger I posed to Frank being exposed. He did everything he knew to get me run out. Largely because of my mom’s illness, I really did not want to leave and frankly wasn’t until his arrest that I understood what was going on. It was a perfect storm for Frank so he told a few boys in my unit that I cramped his style. Funny really my presence may have kept him out of trouble for a bit.
My belief is that if Frank had been allowed to practice his sexual preferences openly he might have been less likely to abuse kids. At the very least, had parents known, Frank might have had less power over kids and close monitoring instead of pretending that he was not gay. In fact I doubt Frank would have ended up in scouting at all, if his sexual preference had not been more open.
Frank spent three years in prison for his child molestation issues, long after I left the unit. I was asked and declined to testify as a character witness for Frank. Most of the scouts I know who served with respectfully see each other’s points of view and agree to disagree on tis issue.
In short this is a big deal and I am glad that this time I didn’t say no to change. In many ways being here in Tu gave me that courage. Once you step out and tell the world about one thing. It is easier to step out on others. Thank you friend for helping me have the courage, online, to take a big time stand on an important issue.
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Rick