Alright, I hope I have appropriate terms for this. What is everybody's opinion on letting gays/homosexuals into the Boy Scouts of America?
As long as they don't do the nasty during any of the meetings or while camping, I don't see why it would be a big deal.
I'm an eagle scout. I've gone through the whole program, from cub scouts to webelos to boy scouts. The program's entire purpose is to mold young boys into paragons of society. And yet, when you gather adolescent boys in any format, uncouth conversation and ideas are bound to be present among some of them. They WILL talk about sex, no matter what. They aren't perfect, or else they wouldn't even need to be there. As far as gay scouts being allowed in, I think that this would only present minor problems at best, which would only be an issue so long as people bring them up. Scouts are supervised in most cases, and I've never seen anyone try anything inappropriate when not supervised. (I was tent-mate with one who I'm sure was gay and was attracted to me, for quite some time.) Yes, scouts misbehave, but there's probably a number of homosexual scouts in the closet anyway, and I've never heard of them causing trouble along those lines. As far as adult leaders being homosexuals, I have no problem. There are safety precautions in place as irrevocable policy that protect against scouts being abused in any way. I don't feel that breaches of these policies would escalate. Decent scout leaders take great care to ensure the safety of those that participate in the program, and I don't believe that homosexuals participating in the program makes it any more dangerous. Just my $0.02.
Ugh. kids shouldn't even be calling themselves such things at a young age, yknow? You're still figuring yourself out...still gaining all the experiences you can...that should be the last thing kids worry or think about:/
Having been in scouts for a short period of time, I see nothing wrong with letting gays in. Gay people are normal people. Any way in which we try to separate gays from what we consider "normal" is discrimination and therefore unfair. I don't know why letting them in would even be a concern. Do straight Boy Scouts have sex at meetings? No, they don't (at least, as far as I remember ). Gay people are not sex maniacs.
I don't see why not. But then again, I don't see why people actually give a crap about another person's sexuality. It doesn't really affect anything so why should it matter?
Anyone who thinks this is a bad thing is a bigot and an embarrassment. Simple as that. Why would you ever be in favor of banning a group of people from something because of an arbitrary, unrelated aspect of their life that hurts no one?
Being a First Class myself, I can safely say BSA is an equal opportunity organization. Not letting them would be like not letting Lance Armstrong into the Tour de France because he has cancer. ...Even if he was on performance boosting drugs...
In this age of gossip being central to most interactions with others it seems younger kids are being forced to make bigger decisions too quickly. The only reason anyone shouldn't be allowed into the BSA is if they may present a danger to others.
As long as Scout Masters don't bring it up and no one is required to tell anyone else, I don't see how it is a bad thing.
Gays shouldn't be excluded from anything. They're the same thing as heterosexuals, except they have a different gender preference.
They should not even have the right to ask about the kid's sexuality in the first place. That is a private matter. I promise, some boy scouts are gay and they present no problem.
What the heck? They're seriously not allowed in already? Why do so many people think that if a homosexual sees another man all they think will be "I want that guy"? Homosexuals live normal lives (or at least try to with all the bull that the governments and social norms in the world do to them), and just have a different sexual preference than what is considered to be more common. There's nothing wrong with homosexuals doing that, people have different dislikes and likes all the time, it's just not the most popular amongst society, which is unfair. It's like a huge case of "stop liking what I don't like", and clearly many people are just stuck in the social norms of the world that have been unrightly taught for centuries.
I think the BSA is vaguely Christian in its policy, which would explain why gays weren't allowed in. Their stated position on the issue a year ago was: "Boy Scouts of America believes that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the obligations in the Scout Oath and Scout Law to be morally straight and clean in thought, word, and deed. The conduct of youth members must be in compliance with the Scout Oath and Law, and membership in Boy Scouts of America is contingent upon the willingness to accept Scouting's values and beliefs. Most boys join Scouting when they are 10 or 11 years old. As they continue in the program, all Scouts are expected to take leadership positions. In the unlikely event that an older boy were to hold himself out as homosexual, he would not be able to continue in a youth leadership position." I say let them in, obviously. It's silly to think sexuality is related to morality in any way.
Not vaguely, VERY. They also had a ban on atheists. When I was at my council to earn my Eagle ranking, I had to explain to a bunch of old guys how God plays a part in my scouting and personal life. I had to make up a whole bunch of reasons just to pass, since I was NOT going to let the organization's religious background get in the way of me obtaining the highest rank (which I spent 9 years working towards.) So yeah, religion is the main reason why the BSA gets all huffy on this issue.
Yeah. It's cool that you stuck through that. I stopped very early on because I just couldn't stand the religious undertones.
Honestly, I don't care, I'm not a scout, but I'm a Sea Cadet and Air Force Junior ROTC Cadet. More then once have I been left alone with a gay cadet over night in a room with 2 other cadets. (I'm bisexual) Nothing has happened, nor does happen. I've showered with other guys naked, some gay, straight, bi, etc, and nothing has happened. I've been put in charge of cadets more then once, for extended periods of time, and honestly, no orgies were formed. I don't get why Boy Scouts won't allow gay scouts, its just beyond me. I train, drill, work, along side gay cadets, my brother, who is in the actual military, has deployed with gay soldiers, and nothing ever happens, if anything they do their job a bit better then most. I think it comes down to just those who are running the scouts personal feelings get in the way of everything.
