LGBT News Boy Scouts lift ban on gay youth, ban on gay adults remain

Honestly, while it's great they've lifted the ban on youth, this isn't anywhere close to being acceptable. Discrimination is discrimination, whether it be against youth or adults. There is no excuse to continue discriminating against gay people just because they're 18+.

 

I believe this was done because it was deemed acceptable and in line with the Mormon Church and how it deals with the issue. The Mormon Church allows gay members as long as they remain celibate, however it does not give gay people any authority positions on the bigoted basis that gays are likely to be sexual predators.

Obviously the Boy Scouts is still under the control of that hateful church, this is NOT an acceptable compromise, and I still would never support or associate with BSA in any way.

 

This works for now.

 

Since when was the Boy Scouts controlled by Mormons?

Anyway, I used to be a Boy Scout and everyone in the troop was a dumb redneck. I wouldn't want to be an openly gay person there.

 

yeah I guess I will say it's a start...hopefully they will finish the job

Foxface

 

about the last 80 years. they basically are owned by the mormons and the catholics.

but it is all moot; the boyscounts were already gay. They walk around in short shorts, sashes, and don handkerchiefs around thier necks... GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

 

People really shouldn't be happy about this.

The minute that boy scout turns 18, they are stripped of their badges, etc.

 

Since forever. Conservative religious groups like the Mormon Church (and to a slightly lesser extent the Catholic Church and Evangelical Christian churches) are tied at the hip to the BSA. The Mormon Church is the BSA's largest sponsor in the United States.

Recently the BSA's policies are becoming even more a mirror image of the Mormon Church itself, for example, the BSA recently started using the term "same-sex attraction", which is the specific Mormon phrase used in place of "sexual orientation". This new change in policy of allowing gay scouts but not leaders also reflects the Mormon Church's own policies on gay membership.

BSA Discrimination.org:Home -> BSA & Gays -> BSA Sponsors -> Religious Groups on Gays -> LDS & BSA/Gays

 

Please forgive my ignorance, but I don't have any personal experience with the boy scouts. Is it widely known that they are essentially a religious organization? I had never heard that before, but again, I've had no contact with them.

 

About 3/4 of the BSA units in the US are Mormon or Roman Catholic (much more so Mormon, though I don't recall the exact split). So yes, if they don't control Scouting, they exert considerable influence.

BSA is not a religious organization, you can believe anything, but one of the tenants is belief.

 

It's a good start . Hopefully they will fully lift the ban

 

To quote Viceroy Gunray from Star Wars;
"At last, victory!"

But I think that this is great. As an Eagle Scout, I am acceptant of everyone, regardless. Although I foresee a long fight of the hyper-conservative troops trying to get the ban reimplemented...

 

its a start anyway, but i wonder if they will treat them ok while they are there

 

in america, yes, given the controversies where they were banning athiests from joining scouts.

 

They're not supposed to be.

---------- Post added 24th May 2013 at 06:36 AM ----------

I'm seeing a lot of disappointment that this decision didn't include leaders and families. I just wanted to call attention to how firmly entrenched the BSA's anti-gay ideals seem to be. They really don't know what they don't know. We may want them to be all-inclusive, but the truth of the matter is that forcing the matter too quickly will only make them protest more strongly.

I fully expect some rather ridiculous policies to go into effect on January 1 in order to "protect" people dealing with gay scouts, as if there's something dangerous about doing so.(They've most likely been dealing with gay scouts for years without knowing.) People in the BSA need time to see for themselves that there really is no threat to defend against. Only then will the anti-gay elements have no leg to stand on. Only then they'll be able to include everyone else.

There's a learning curve here folks.

Baby steps.

 

Thanks for the answers, guys.

There's something frankly scary about an organization as large as the boy scouts having such strong religious influence/ties/leadership without publicly being associated with one particular church. While their policies against gays and atheists identify them as having fundamental beliefs, there's no public acknowledgement that they are a Catholic/Mormon organization. They're not, for example, the Catholic Boy Scouts of America, or even The Christian Boy Scouts of America.

And for them to argue that they're not a religious organization because you "can believe anything but faith is one of the tennets," is simply false. What you have to believe is God. They may not care what denomination you are, but you must be Christian, and perhaps Jewish.

Can you believe in Allah (who is really just God)? Can you practice Buddhism? Believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster? Worship Cthulhu?

I know I'm being facetious here, but perhaps because I'm a transplant to the South, I'm just about as sensitive to religious freedom as to gay rights. I've really got a problem with an organization posing as "American" when they are really "Christian." For God's sake, they are not the same thing!

Sorry--this comment is a little off the general thread.

--Zoe

 

Well, that's relieving. I'm working on my Eagle Scout project right now, and it would suck to be kicked out after all the work I've put in. They still need to lift the ban on the adults though.

 

What a great day this has become! I'm glad to see that they had enough sense to lift this ban. But...they still need to do something about letting adults participate as well.

 

That's the impression I've gotten too and if they're just postponing excommunicating you that's not fair at all.

Also, not that anyone lives up to this but I remember when others and I earned our eagle scout awards, there was always like a requirment that we swear we would continue to be involved with the BSA and volunteer with troops/packs. I hope this doesn't just become some reason why gay or bi youth can't get to the rank of eagle since if they were out it would be known that they can not involved with the orginization after turning 18.