The Bigot Scouts

[luzribeiro.livejournal.com]

Boy Scouts reaffirm ban on gays

"After a confidential two-year review, the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday emphatically reaffirmed its policy of excluding gays, ruling out any changes despite relentless protest campaigns by some critics.

An 11-member special committee, formed discreetly by top Scout leaders in 2010, "came to the conclusion that this policy is absolutely the best policy for the Boy Scouts," the organization' national spokesman, Deron Smith, told The Associated Press.

Smith said the committee, comprised of professional scout executives and adult volunteers, was unanimous in its conclusion — preserving a long-standing policy that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 and has remained controversial ever since.

As a result of the committee's decision, the Scouts' national executive board will take no further action on a recently submitted resolution asking for reconsideration of the membership policy."
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I know, first thing many would think of as a response would be that the Boy Scouts, being a private club, should feel free to do as they please. On the other hand though, it's beyond me why the federal government would continue to fund an organization like this, in light of their outright discriminatory policies.

Specifically: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winkler_v._Rumsfeld
"Every four years, the Boy Scouts of America holds a National Scout jamboree ... The US Government spends an average of $2 million a year towards hosting of the jamboree.

"Winkler v. Rumsfeld was a case regarding the United States Armed Forces and their support of the Boy Scouts of America's National Scout jamborees."

Based on all this, Winkler and other plaintiffs (with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union), sued. Their argument was that the Department of Defense's use of taxpayer money for funding jamborees of what they called "a private religious organization", is a violation of the 1st Amendment, which prohibits Congress from establishing a religion.

The DOD's spending for those jamborees was ruled a violation of the Constitution. Then the decision was reversed after an appeal (the argument being that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing as taxpayers to bring the suit in the first place). So the jamboree was allowed to continue.

Then the location for the future national jamborees was moved to W.Virginia, on private land. This was supposed to settle the issue once and for all. BUT...

"However, future involvement of the military in supporting Jamborees at The Summit is likely due to the recruiting and training opportunity it affords them."

In addition, W.Virginia, both the state government and various local government agencies, are providing both direct and indirect support for said "summit", in the form of tax breaks and other bonuses, plus the DOD is providing personnel and equipment to build the trails around the summit location - and all that, for the benefit of the non-gay Boy Scouts...

The most stunning thing here is that this policy is now practically being legitimized by the involvement of DOD, hence the federal government. Now, I may not agree with the views of the Boy Scots, but I can also see where the argument about them being a private company, might be coming from; although not necessarily being particularly happy about it. But don't the Scouts receive government grants in the meantime? Why is that? Does the federal government support a discriminatory policy against homosexuals - or not?

The other weird thing is that in its 2000 ruling, the SCOTUS used the 1st Amendment to exclude gays from being a scout master... Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not sure that was the purpose of the 1st Amendment?

And one last question. The disgrace that this organization has brought upon itself with this policy notwithstanding, why would the Boy Scouts even make homosexuality an issue at all? Was it anywhere near being one of the core principles on which that organization was founded? They're beginning to look more and more like the Bigot Scouts of America at this point.

Thoughts? Rants? Opinions? Macros?

Comments

[mutive.livejournal.com]

In answer as to why the Boy Scouts cares so much about homosexuality, well...the biggest reason is probably the Church of Later Day Saints, which forms a huge chunk of the Boy Scouts, and has greatly influenced their policy.

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

Bingo.

[peristaltor.livejournal.com]

Yup. Back when I was a cub, nobody self-identified as either gay or atheist. That started to change in the later '70s, albeit slowly. In about the '80s, just as the Moral Majority and other backlash reactions to "out" atheists and gays began, the LDS started "infiltrating" scouting on a stealth basis by simply joining troups and electing their LDS friends into higher and higher positions. They did the same with several school district boards and PTSAs.

Disclaiming clarification: I don't have anything more against the LDS than I do against any other religious organization.

[mutive.livejournal.com]

I don't remember there being an "election" process for troop leaders. (At least in my brothers' troops, it was pretty much anyone willing to take on the role got to be the troop leader.) TBH, I don't think that it was anything sinister. LDS has typically been very interested in family/children/community events, so it really wouldn't surprise me if they ended up dominating a lot of school boards, PTAs, scouting events, etc. just because (from what I've personally observed), LDS families tend to be very involved. (More so than those of most religious denominations, to be frank.) I could be wrong, though.

I do think there's a bit of a difference in Boy Scouting as, from what I can recall, LDS often had their own separate troops. (I think in my hometown, there were the LDS troops, then the "everyone else" troops, which strangely enough were mostly Catholic...but both officially non-denominational and fairly liberal, as the local Catholic church leaned strongly to the left.) So I would guess that plays a big role. (According to my father, anyway, a troop leader - that was the biggest role. Boy Scouts didn't want to watch half their troops vanish because they took on a "homosexuality is okay with us now" stance.)

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

Probably no more so than the Catholic Church.

[mutive.livejournal.com]

The difference, from what I've been given to understand, is that LDS has Boy Scout chapters incorporated within its Temples. (So all LDS chapters, if you will.) While the Catholic church doesn't do anything similar, so it doesn't exert the same degree of force on the Boy Scouts. So while both organizations oppose gay marriage, only one is particularly responsible for the Boy Scouts taking the stand they do. (As the Boy Scouts doesn't want to watch half their chapters disappear if they say, "Actually, we're okay with homosexuality now...")