eagles.jpg

NBC News is reporting that the Boy Scouts of America is considering an end to its ban on gay scouts and leaders.

I hope so.

Advertisement

I joined many others in sending the BSA my Eagle Scout badge (photo is from a Tumblr page devoted to such letters) after the Boy Scouts reaffirmed the gay ban last summer. My letter drew no acknowledgment from the chief scout executive. Which was a response of a sort, I guessed. Solicited for a contribution to scouting outside a grocery store later, I told the leader working with the kids, with sadness, that I couldn’t support a discriminatory organization, despite my own past as a scout and Cub Scout dean leader. He sympathized, in a very kind way. Like many in the organization, he, too, didn’t support the policy. But he believed in scouting and its benefit for kids. Maybe people like him, working in the system, had an impact.

The Scouts seem to be moving toward a practice where sponsoring organizations would determine membership guidelines in accordance with their beliefs. (Here’s the full statement.) Churches sponsor many scout troops, so the change wouldn’t likely mean open doors to gay scouting participants everywhere. Many groups would discriminate. You can’t help but wonder if the groups that retain exclusionary policies would want to “fellowship” with the more diverse troops at summer camps, camporees, soapbox derbies and all the other group scouting activities. Or would summer camps be segregated, as they were by race in the old days, to prevent sharing of water fountains and the like?

Advertisement

Be a part of something bigger

As a reader of the Arkansas Times, you know we’re dedicated to bringing you tough, determined, and feisty journalism that holds the powerful accountable. For 50 years, we've been fighting the good fight in Little Rock and beyond – with your support, we can do even more. By becoming a subscriber or donating as little as $1 to our efforts, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers to expand our coverage and continue to bring important stories to light. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, it's clear that our readers value our great journalism. Join us in the fight for truth.

Previous article Obama’s ‘liberal’ speech — it wasn’t Next article Status of Arkansas women: Better, but …