Boy Scouts Accepting Gays Now

[Zen Toombs]

Boy Scouts may soon welcome gay youths, leaders
by Oren Dorell and Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY

Published: 01/28/2013 04:56pm

"The Boy Scouts would not, under any circumstances, dictate a position to units, members or parents. Under this proposed policy, the BSA would not require any chartered organization to act in ways inconsistent with that organization's mission, principles or religious beliefs," he said.

While some cheered the announcement, others said it would ruin Scouting.

The announcement comes after a campaign to change the policy that lasted more than a year and garnered more than 1.2 million online signatures at Chang.org, according to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), an advocacy group.

GLAAD spokesman Rich Ferraro told USA TODAY the Boy Scouts were making an important "first step" that he hopes will lead to ending a national ban and allowing gays to participate in an important national cultural institution.

"The Girl Scouts, 4H Clubs and the U.S. military are fully inclusive, and that's what we need from the Boy Scouts of America," Ferraro said. "Until then there will be young people out there who are harmed by this."

"This would be an incredible step forward in the right direction," said Zach Wahls, Eagle Scout and founder of Scouts for Equality. Wahls said his group will work with BSA councils and chartering organizations across the country to end exclusion of gays.

Copyright 2012 USATODAY.com

[source] [http://m.usatoday.com/article/news/1870919?articlePage=1]

Alright, I'm pretty excited about this, I'm looking forward to being proud to be an Eagle Scout again. As expected though, there were a number of people who have a problem with this. Of note: being gay does not make you a pedophile, and to suggest that is either ignorant of reality[footnote]homosexuals are less likely to be pedophiles, yay statistics[/footnote] or homophobic.

So Escapistians, what do you all think? And what problems do you think could come of this?

 

[game-lover]

I'm pretty sure I was one of the many online signatures. So I'm pretty pleased about this turnout.

Because sometimes you sign just to show your support but don't expect any change.


As for what problems? I'm not certain but there's bound to be at least one. Just statistically.

 

[Dangit2019]

Did it really take this long? I'm pretty sure gays are allowed at even church camps now. Way to get with the program quickly.

Oh well, cheers to everyone and whatnot.

 

[adamsaccount]

Good stuff, pretty significant this as its going to show kids gay role models

 

[Thunderous Cacophony]

So are we allowed to make jokes about sashes and ascots? I don't know if I will provoke a shitstorm, but I kind of want to...

OT: And there was much rejoicing.

 

[BathorysGraveland]

Well, hey. Good for the homosexuals who wish to be boy scouts, I suppose. Good for them.

 

[Shadowstar38]

Um. Cool I guess. I don't see this as a big a deal as they're making it. Probably should hAve happened earlier

 

[username sucks]

Thats great, but I just hope the scouts will be able to stay in buisness. I expect that a very large percentage of parents will pull thier kids out of the scouts.

Or maybe I'm just being pessimistic about this because I read this on yahoo news and made the mistake of reading the comments, but I don't see this lasting too long.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Um...is it not more accurate to say that they have simply stopped demanding groups exclude gay people? That's not the same as acceptance.

Any individual group can exclude people from being gay, but now they do that themselves, rather than by decree on up high.

Now, this is less bad than before, but I'd not call it good.

 

[Souplex]

I approve!
"Chang.org"?

 

[Andy Shandy]

I approve!
"Chang.org"?

Well some of the stuff there does encourage some to

Anyways, congratulations, a little less homophobia is always nice.

 

[aba1]

Cool I suppose I don't know why this was ever a thing, as being gay has nothing to do with scouts I don't see why it ever mattered.

 

[mitchell271]

Wait, this was an issue? That's a little sad but good for them I guess?

 

[Ljs1121]

I approve!
"Chang.org"?

Is that picture a Community thing? If so, I'm gonna have to watch that show.

On topic, yay. I didn't know that homosexuals weren't allowed in the Boy Scouts before, but it's pretty cool that they are now.

 

[Baneat]

This is a pretty significant development.

Now, can the American Government stop giving them money? They have no right to take it.

 

[hazabaza1]

...this only just happened?
Fuck, guys, get it together. Still good to see.

 

[Vuliev]

...would it be such a bad thing if Boy Scouts went out of business? Seriously, what relevance do they have to modern life?

All of the general skills supposedly taught by boy scouts (leadership, self-confidence, etc) can be learned in other ways...

...yet I have not seen a single organization that does it as well as Scouts. None. The only equivalent experience to leading a patrol or troop is being a sports team captain or major club leader, and guess what? Those that take those non-Scout responsibilities on are largely either those with the innate talent and drive to lead--or they bring their experience from leading in Scouts. Simply jumping into a leadership position isn't the most effective way to learn leadership. Building self-confidence, self-reliance, and the ability to trust teammates are cornerstones, and those skills "irrelevant to 90% of the population" happen to be rather effective at building those.

Speaking of those "irrelevant" skills: as an Eagle Scout, I'll admit that I haven't had to use my wilderness survival skills yet--and that's pretty much all that I haven't used since I left Scouting. What I have used, though?
[ul]
[li]First aid (in my case, sprained ankle, broken arm, broken foot, deep laceration (glass), second degree burns (boiling water), and probably more that I've forgotten about)[/li]
[li]fire building[/li]
[li]water rescue[/li]
[li]plant identification[/li]
[li]orienteering (map-reading, compass use)[/li]
[li]basic carpentry/construction/metalwork (and all the tool use that comes with it: axe, hand saws, hammer, awl, knife, whetstone, power saws, power drill, Dremel, and plenty more)[/li]
[li]sewing[/li]
[li]cooking[/li]
[li]proper use of gas appliances[/li]
[li]proper care/handling of firearms (and the knowledge/respect that comes with)[/li]
[/ul]and on and on. And that's just the hands-on stuff.

Is Scouting for every young man? No. I've seen that firsthand--during my time in Scouting, my troop had a number of guys drop out because it simply wasn't doing anything for them. But the appeal is broad enough to keep millions of Scouts actively engaged of their own free will, so who are you to say that we would be better off without the BSA?

 

[Gennadios]

To my knowledge they still don't allow Atheists into the Scouts, so as far as I'm concerned they're still a bunch of backwards bigots.

Maybe this means the floodgates are open, though?