Boy Scouts, that’s not right.

• October 7, 2012
• Author: Beverly

This is far from honorable.

Change is so slow. The world is changing for the better, I hope. Composting is now second nature to most people. Some people always remembers their bags when they go to the grocery store. And girls these days don’t remember a time when growing up to be an airline pilot was something they couldn’t do.

But ah, these little slaps in the face that remind us that some things are slower to change. Take the Boy Scouts for example. This week they denied a teen named Ryan Andersen from attaining Eagle Scout (a prestigious honor that only 3% of all Boy Scouts can ever attain since it’s so darn hard) even though he had completed EVERYTHING needed to attain that rank… because he had come out as GAY.

In fact, his Eagle Service project was a “Tolerance Wall” that denounced bullying. He built it at his old middle school. How sweet! How much concern for his other fellow humans!

But since he’s gay, he’s no longer welcomed at his troop.

Really people? Really? Are we still that afraid of gay people in 2012?

And you can’t blame the boy. He’d been a scout since he was a wee lad, so how the hell did he know that he was gay? He grew up with the scouts, they were family, surely they can see the person past the stereotype!

The thing is, the Scouts teach a lot of wonderful things: self-reliance, community service… bigotry?????

Speechless.

Change.org, you mean so much more to me now.

Hitler Youth, Boy Scouts: who is to say one ideology is better than the other?

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• Filed under:
  • From the Gut
• Topics:
  • ban on gays,
  • boy scouts,
  • Change.org,
  • hitler youth,
  • moraga teen,
  • Ryan Andersen

2 Comments

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1. Eastfist - 10/07/2012 at 10:48 am

   He’d been more welcome at the Brazil chapter.
2. James Dante - 10/07/2012 at 11:43 am

   I was a Scout at age thirteen. Despite my dislike of the outdoors, it was a good experience. For the first time, I realized that not all boys came from the type of stable, loving home that I took for granted. In fact, we had kid who used to get beaten so badly by his father that he had to shower separately so that nobody would see the welts. As for the anti-gay policy. I wonder how much of it has to do with liability. Image if a gay Scout or a master were accused of inappropriate behavior. How big would that check have to be? I have no doubt this will happen if the Scouts become more “inclusive.” I’m not sure what the answer is to this issue. It would be good for a gay teen to have the same benefit of what is basically a fine organization. I do, however, know that hating on the Scouts has been around for a long time. Those paramilitary uniforms. They’re just asking for it.