INSCMagazine: Get Social!

Today a historic decision was made by the Boy Scouts of America National Council in which openly gay youths will be allowed membership.

According to an Associated Press article this will not be extended to gay leaders.

 The Boy Scouts of America threw open its ranks Thursday to gay Scouts but not gay Scout leaders — a fiercely contested compromise that some warned could fracture the organization and lead to mass defections of members and donors.Of the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA’s National Council who cast ballots, 61 percent supported the proposal drafted by the governing Executive Committee. The policy change takes effect Jan. 1.
“This has been a challenging chapter in our history,” the BSA chief executive, Wayne Brock, said after the vote. “While people have differing opinions on this policy, kids are better off when they’re in Scouting.”
I am a Eagle Scout (once an Eagle always an Eagle) and my views on this matter have changed over the years.  While not told or suggested that homosexuals were not welcomed, the religious values of the Scouts kind of implied that.
My perspective has changed over the years and I see no problem with allowing gays to be members of the Boy Scouts.  I also feel it should not stop here, we need to be more inclusive.  Why are we not allowing gay leaders to openly serve?  Once a gay scout becomes 18 he can’t become a leader, what sense does that  make?
As a libertarian my perspective is different than my personal views.I feel that the organization should make any decision that fits their values. While that might not make many people happy, it’s a private organization and can run it how it sees fit. If this were a government entity then it’d be different, with discrimination not being tolerated.
This is landmark decision for the BSA, to which this Eagle Scout says bravo.

John Machurek is an Assistant Editor and the Senior NHL Writer for The 

Inscriber Digital Magazine.  Follow him on Twitter @JohnnyMacNHL or e-mail him at JohnMachurek@gmail.com.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.