The AP is reporting that, after years of protest that escalated after Ohio Cubmaster Jennifer Tyrrell was ousted for being a lesbian, the Boy Scouts of America is standing firm on their policy barring openly gay Scouts and Scouters. Even after two BSA board members, Ernst & Young CEO James Turley and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, came out in support of changing the policy, the organization has decided to stand against the tide of progress. After "reviewing" the issue for two years, a special committee of eleven members formed in 2010 has decided that the BSA's current stance is the "best policy." Amazing. From the AP report:
An 11-member special committee, formed discreetly by top Scout leaders in 2010, "came to the conclusion that this policy is absolutely the best policy for the Boy Scouts," the organization' national spokesman, Deron Smith, told The Associated Press.
Smith said the committee, comprised of professional scout executives and adult volunteers, was unanimous in its conclusion — preserving a long-standing policy that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 and has remained controversial ever since.
As a result of the committee's decision, the Scouts' national executive board will take no further action on a recently submitted resolution asking for reconsideration of the membership policy.
Just amazing. How a panel of eleven people could determine that a policy that expels qualified Scouts and Scouters from the BSA's ranks and alienates a sizable chunk of the American population is the "best policy" is beyond me.
This comes after the heartbreaking news that Eric Jones, a BSA camp counselor and Eagle Scout who has been in the program for ten years, was fired from his job because he came out. From the NY Daily News:
The 19-year-old, who was serving as a counselor at one of the organization's summer camps in Missouri, sat down with the camp director to tell him that he was gay.
"I'd been working on coming out," Jones, who is also an Eagle Scout, told the Daily News. "I thought it was time to have my life of scouting and my other life come together."
Jones, however, quickly lost his job, as the camp's director asked him to leave.
"He said I was deserving to be there, but he had to follow the policy of BSA," Jones said.
[...]
Jones said he has no regrets even though he's lost a major part of his life.
“I have to thank BSA for making the person I am, for being the person who stands up for what I believe in,” Jones added.
Jones' story will be featured in Ryan James Yezak's upcoming film
Second Class Citizens.
I can identify with Jones. I, too, spent almost a decade in Scouting. I, too, attained the rank of Eagle Scout. I went to the 2005 National Scout Jamboree. I was a member of the Order of the Arrow, in which I served as Lodge Chief, the highest youth-held position in my council. I later became an Assistant Scoutmaster for my troop. I had to leave it all behind when I came out. That part of my life has been completely hacked off--I have no communication with anybody from Scouting. It's as if I never existed.
When the BSA announced its "review," I held onto a sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, the policy would be changed. Maybe they'd see the unfairness and the destructiveness of their anti-gay policy.
But no. The BSA--which taught me so much and has helped mold me into the person I am today--has decided to hold onto bigotry and narrow-mindedness and hate. It's such a disappointment. But sadly, it's not really a surprise.
Chief Scout Executive Bob Mazzuca, whom I met in person and whose hand I shook when he came to visit my council, has this to say:
The vast majority of the parents of youth we serve value their right to address issues of same-sex orientation within their family, with spiritual advisers and at the appropriate time and in the right setting. We fully understand that no single policy will accommodate the many diverse views among our membership or society.
Fuck you, Bob Mazzuca. Really. Fuck you.
Part of the longer BSA statement, undoubtedly referring to the recent dissension in its own ranks:
Scouting believes that good people can personally disagree on this topic and still work together to achieve the life-changing benefits to youth through Scouting. While not all board members may personally agree with this policy, and may choose a different direction for their own organizations, BSA leadership agrees this is the best policy for the organization.
And with that, the BSA has continued its descent into eventual obscurity and has cemented its place on the wrong side of history. Chad Griffin, the new president of the Human Rights Campaign, sums up the BSA's decision quite well:
...a missed opportunity of colossal proportions. With the country moving toward inclusion, the leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have instead sent a message to young people that only some of them are valued. They've chosen to teach division and intolerance.
Yep. That sums it up all right.
I still hope that my kids, if I ever have any, might be able to enjoy the same opportunities I enjoyed in the Boy Scouts. But it doesn't look like that will be the case. The BSA has chosen its path, and it is remaining steadfast. Those of us on the side of progress and equality must do the same.