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Chuck Anziulewicz June 5, 2013 at 02:20 pm
I’m Gay and I was in the Boy Scouts. My troop was sponsored by St. Raphael’s Catholic…Read More Church in Potomac, Maryland. Admittedly this was back in the late 1960s to early 1970s, when the modern Gay rights movement was in its infancy, and the prospect of Gay youth “coming out” was unthinkable. But the fact remains that my sexual orientation was irrelevant to scouting activities,
and I imagine the same went for the majority of boys who were Straight (i.e. heterosexual). The official Boy Scout Handbook was not heterocentric. The issue of sexual orientation, one way or another, was simply irrelevant.
Gay boys and men have always participated in the BSA and always will, regardless of the official policy. I’m just glad the when boys in the scouts start coming to grips with a different sexual orientation (usually while in their early teens), they will not be kicked out when they need that social support structure the most. And if some people are so consumed by their animosity toward Gay people that they choose to leave the BSA, they probably won’t be missed.
This is not to say that individual Boy Scouts, regardless of their sexual orientation, shouldn't be held accountable for inappropriate behavior. They should be. But sexual orientation in and of itself should not be a barrier to scouting.
Jane Turnipseed May 24, 2013 at 08:29 pm
Such a great idea! Is this the first year this has been offered?
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