Boy Scouts’ decision: True acceptance or a mirage?
You may have heard the news that the Boy Scouts of America, after institutionally banning gay scouts and gay scout leaders, voted to allow accepting gay scouts starting in 2014 but voted to continue its ban on gay scout leaders. Is this truly progress in the fight against discrimination or smoke and mirrors in a half-hearted display of tolerance and acceptance? For me, it is completely the latter.
What type of organization would instill in its members the values and skills of leadership, and then tell them out of the other side of their mouth, “But you can never be a leader in THIS organization.” Banning gay scout leaders but allowing gay scouts is, to me, akin to telling women “OK we will let you attend college with men, but the jobs are only for men.” And expecting them to be grateful for this token of acceptance.
What kind of message is this sending to children and society? It is sending the following very confusing, very flawed messages: some discrimination based on sexual orientation, on some levels, is OK; there is something fundamentally flawed about men who are homosexual; homosexual men in leadership positions are threatening somehow; people should be scared of gay men who work around children.
Moreover, the messages it certainly sends to gay youth are even worse: you’re good enough to be a scout but not a leader; there’s something flawed about you, especially as you mature into an adult; the other boys in your troop can go on to be leaders but you cannot.
These are the kind of institutional decisions that help fuel the fire of self-righteousness, bullying and hatred.
Dear Boy Scouts, grow up. Gay people are not sexual deviants or sexual predators just because they are gay (just ask Jerry Sandusky). Nor are gay men unfit for leadership positions simply because of their sexual orientation. If gay men and women openly serve in the military to defend our country, and gay men and women have held leadership positions in hundreds of organizations, including the schools that teach our children, then what’s your deal?
Times are changing and you need to step out of the dark ages. According to a recent CNN article, nine of these 50 United States now allow gay marriage. The proportion of Americans opposing gay marriage has dramatically dropped in the past 2 decades; the majority of Americans support it. There are over 115,000 families with children in America headed by two moms or two dads.
Boy Scouts, perhaps it is time you take a long look at society, then at yourselves. You supposedly made this decision to maintain your family-friendly values. The values of which families exactly? And in what way is this friendly?
Photo credit: Elsa Blain via Flickr Creative Commons
About Mary Beth Cox