Gay boy scouts but not their scoutmasters

Out.com published a well-written commentary on the Boy Scouts of America and their recent decision to allow gay scouts to participate in the organization, while still restricting troop leaders from joining the organization if they identify as LGBT.

Columnist Andrew Belonsky said, “The age at which a health [sic] gay person turns into a monster? 21.”

It seems ridiculous that this stepping stone for the private organization that we’ve worked so hard to accomplish is only acquiesced with sour restrictions.

The poorly-reasoned “compromise” is not progress, and as a matter of fact, it could harm the organization even more than the pre-existing gay ban.

What this 21-year age restriction perpetuates is that the BSA can include a new community, so long as members of that community never advance further in the field they choose.

What this restriction perpetuates is this: “It Gets Worse.”

The policy to deny scout leaders the right to lead on the basis of their sexual orientation just sets us back further.

You could say “it’s great that they’re including the youth at least,” but by deductive reasoning, they are excluding them from the opportunity to convene troops for their kids or their neighborhoods.

The proposed policy reads: “Youth are still developing, learning about themselves and who they are, developing their sense of right and wrong, and understanding their duty to God to live a moral life,” which suggests, inadvertently, that LGBT people can pray their gay away, hopefully by the time they’ve reached the drinking age.

This falls into the same category as the stigmas created against LGBT families, as gay adoption laws are continually flouted on the grounds that kids raised under same-sex couples are more likely to “deviate from the societal norm.”

This reduction of LGBT leaders and caretakers should be considered disrepair.
By sticking to age-old ideals, the scouts of these respective troops will never feel included, validated or encouraged.

With this policy, the BSA continues to forbid those that want to live a life that is
“different.”

What this change really means is that the BSA has not changed at all.

And because of this backward, traditionalist outlook, they will continue to devolve their scouts until they amend the policy once again.