Following
GLAAD's unearthing of a 1994 video, seen above, where candidate for Senate, Mitt Romney expressed support for the Boy Scouts opening up their policies for all Americans to participate, the Ohio mom in a center of a media firestorm, Jennifer Tyrrell, has expressed her gratitude to presidential candidate Mitt Romney for his support.
In the video above, Massachusetts Senate candidate Romney is asked, as a member of Boy Scouts of America's board at the time, if he agrees with the Boy Scout's exclusionary policy? He responds his support for the Boy Scouts' right to manage their membership as they wish, but he himself has personal reservations. He says:
"I feel that all people should be allowed to participate in the Boy Scouts, regardless of their sexual orientation.”
Jennifer Tyrrell with her son.
Jennifer Tyrrell, ousted from leading her son's cub scouts pack for being a lesbian says she appreciates 1994 Mitt's support:
“I’m very happy to hear that Mitt Romney expressed support in 1994 for the participation of my family, and families like mine, in the Boy Scouts of America. I hope he still feels that gay and lesbian people should be allowed in the Boy Scouts in 2012,” said Tyrrell, who resides in Ohio, one of the critical electoral battlegrounds in the November election. “I think President Obama should also let the public know what he thinks about a cultural institution like the Boy Scouts banning gay Americans.”
Bob Drury, scout executive for the Ohio River Valley,
defended the move saying:
"We do not grant membership to individuals who are opened or avowed homosexuals."
The Boy Scouts' exclusionary policies have attracted a great deal of attention lately including coverage from
CNN,
MSNBC,
ABC News, the
New York Times, and the
Associated Press.
A Change.org petition asking the Boy Scouts to change their policy has surpassed 260,000 signatures. On Friday Board member of the Ohio River Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), David J. Sims, announced his resignation in support of Jennifer Tyrrell.
Also last week, Susan Ungaro, President of the James Beard Foundation returned an honorary award to the Boy Scouts of America saying:
While I support all the poverty and hunger-fighting programs of the Boy Scouts of America, including sending at-risk youth to camp, your report brought to my attention that accepting the Distinguished Citizen Award implied I support their anti-gay policy, which I absolutely do not. When I accepted the honor, I was focused on supporting the New Jersey chefs and restaurant community.
I have informed the Boy Scouts of America that I am rescinding my acceptance of the award.
It remains to be seen if this a position that Mitt Romney still holds, or like so many others he has flip-flopped on.