Tag: Boy Scouts

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Boy Scouts Of America Will Allow Transgender Scouts

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that, beginning immediately, the Boy Scouts of America will allow transgender youth who identify as boys to enroll in scouting programs:

The organization announced it had made the decision to begin basing enrollment in its boys-only programs on the gender a child or parent lists on the application to become a scout. The organization had previously held a policy that relied on the gender listed on a child’s birth certificate for those programs.

Rebecca Rausch, a spokeswoman for the organization, emailed a statement Monday. She said the organization’s leadership had considered a recent case in Secaucus, New Jersey, where an 8-year-old transgender child had been asked to leave his Scout troop after parents and leaders found out he is transgender, but the change was made because of the larger conversation about gender identity going on around the country.

“For more than 100 years, the Boy Scouts of America, along with schools, youth sports and other youth organizations, have ultimately deferred to the information on an individual’s birth certificate to determine eligibility for our single-gender programs,” the statement said. “However, that approach is no longer sufficient as communities and state laws are interpreting gender identity differently, and these laws vary widely from state to state.”

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New Jersey: 8 Year Old Transgender Boy Barred From Cub Scout Pack

(via WNBC)

While the Boy Scouts of America have taken long looks and made some decisions on openly gay scouts participating in their organization, the issues surrounding transgender kids is now getting some national focus as a Cub Scout pack in Secaucus, NJ, is barring an 8 year old trans boy.

Dawn Ennis at LGBTQ Nation reports:

One month after 8-year-old Joe Maldonado of Secaucus, N.J. joined Cub Scout Pack 87, his mother received a call that the troop sponsored by their local Catholic church had barred her son from participating. The reason, she told reporters, is because her son was assigned the gender of female at birth. Joe is a transgender boy.

And he told the Star-Ledger he’s not so much sad as he is mad.

“It made me mad. I had a sad face, but I wasn’t crying. I’m way more angry than sad. My identity is a boy. If I was them, I would let every person in the world go in. It’s right to do.”

He had joined in October with the intention of camping, conducting science experiments, and all the other fun things Cub Scouts do, like learning how to tie a variety of knots, use a pocket knife, and go on hikes with his friends. Joe’s classmates not only like him, his mother said, but some of them play with him on a boys basketball team. His school teachers have used male pronouns and have accepted him as the boy he is since second grade, Kristie Maldonado told the newspaper.

“Not one of the kids said, ‘You don’t belong here,’” said Maldonado. It wasn’t the boys in their pack; reportedly, it was their moms.

Eric Chamberlin, an executive with the Northern New Jersey Council of Boy Scouts, based in Oakland, N.J., confirmed to the paper that he called Maldonado last month, but he declined to comment further.

Effie Delimarkos, the communications director for the Boy Scouts of America, told the Star-Ledger in a statement the Boy Scouts consider membership for transgender children to be a separate issue from that of gay children.

“No youth may be removed from any of our programs on the basis of his or her sexual orientation,” and “Gender identity isn’t related to sexual orientation.”

The Boy Scouts spokeswoman declined to directly address the Secaucus troop issue and did not answer inquiries about whether local or state Scouting leaders contacted the national office about Joe Maldonado.

But in her statement, Delimarkos made it clear that “the classification on the participant’s birth certificate” would be used to “confirm legal status.”

Chamberlin did not ask to examine Joe’s birth certificate, the boy’s mother told the paper. If the Boy Scouts have ever examined birth certificates for the gender markers, Delimarkos wouldn’t say. And she declined to say whether the Scouts have a written transgender policy.

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Mormon Dad Gets Choked Up That His Son Doesn’t Hate Gays Enough

Quin Monson, a professor at Brigham Young University, a former scout and father of a current Boy Scout, spoke to NPR radio recently about the Boy Scouts of America’s recent decision to lift the ban on gay scout leaders.

“The (Mormon) church took the Boy Scout program and decided its values and mission aligned closely enough with that of the church’s program for young men that they just wholesale adopted it,” Monson said. “Basically, if you are a young Mormon male, you join the Boy Scouts.”

Bu the new policy by the BSA doesn’t sit well with Monson even if he can’t articulate what exactly bothers him about it.

“The BSA statement allows for leaders who are openly gay and what that means in practice is, I don’t think, exactly clear. But I think that it very well could conflict with the church’s own policy which is, ‘You can identify as gay and be an active, faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.’ The problem is acting on that same-sex attraction, so there’s a distinction between actions and orientation.”

Monson actually sounds despondent and chokes up when he explains that his son just doesn’t see the problem with allowing gay scout leaders. Isn’t that supposed to be a good thing? When children don’t embrace the biases and bigotry that’s come before them?

Manson explained how a chat with his son went regarding having openly gay scout leaders went something like this:

“He’s a pretty deep thinker, and a thoughtful kid, but his reaction was, ‘Well, I don’t see why it matters, dad. Why is this such a big deal?'” Monson explained.

“That’s the hard part about all of this is that it impacts a group of young men who don’t necessarily understand why,” Monson said, getting choked up.

You can listen below. The “emotional” moment comes at around the 3:20 mark.

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Matt Baume Explains New Rules Regarding Openly Gay Scout Leaders

Matt Baume explains the new rule change at the Boy Scouts of America allowing gay scout leaders, and whether that means any young scouts are now at more risk.

(Here’s a hint: nope)

While 79% of the National Executive Board of The Boy Scouts of America voted to lift its nation-wide ban on gay adult scout leaders, local chapters are still allowed to decide whether they will discriminate against gay scout leaders.

“The Boy Scouts are a private group, and they’re free to decide who can be a member. In fact, individual chapters are still allowed to deny access to LGBT leaders. Non-discrimination laws just don’t apply here, like they do for public facilities and businesses.”

Got that? Private and religious organizations are NOT under attack. Sorry to disappoint you there, Bryan Fischer.

A former scout himself, Baume explains why having openly gay scout leaders will make a difference in the lives of LGBT youth:

“I didn’t know that I was gay when I was a 7 year-old Boy Scout. I just knew that I was different. And nothing would have been more important to me than to know that I wasn’t alone. And when I got a little older to have seen that people like me aren’t a threat and are just as trustworthy, and helpful and loyal as anyone else.”

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Boy Scouts Of America Set To End Gay Scout Leader Ban – Almost

A vote scheduled today for the 80 member board of the Boy Scouts of America could officially end the organization’s longtime ban on openly gay scout leaders.

Kinda sorta.

In an effort to assuage some conservative religious groups, the new policy allows church-led scout groups to choose adult leaders “whose beliefs are consistent with their own.”

The Boy Scouts’ executive committee unanimously voted earlier this month to approve a resolution that would effectively end the ban on gay adult leaders. Today’s vote makes that resolution official.

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Boy Scouts Of America Vote To End Ban On Gay Adult Leaders

The Human Rights Campaign issued this statement:

“The vote by the executive committee to recommend that gay, lesbian and bisexual adults be allowed to work and volunteer for the Boy Scouts is a welcome step toward erasing a stain on one of our nation’s most storied organizations,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “But writing in an exemption for troops organized by religious organizations undermines the potentially historic nature of today’s vote.”

“As we have said countless times, half measures are unacceptable and discriminatory exemptions have no place in the Boy Scouts. It’s long overdue that BSA leaders demonstrate true leadership and embrace a full national policy of inclusion that does not discriminate against anyone because of who they are,” Griffin said.

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Boy Scouts President Calls For Ending Ban On Adult Leaders

Boy Scouts of America president Robert Gates has announced the organization will no longer revoke chapters that accept gay adult leaders.

The organization took no formal action on its current policy to ban gay adult leaders, but Gates said the group can no longer “ignore growing internal challenges to our current membership policy.”

“Nor can we ignore the social, political and juridicial changes taking place in our country – changes taking place at a pace over this past year no one anticipated,” he said. “We must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be.”

Gates’ remarks were welcome news to those who have been challenging the Scouts’ longstanding anti-gay policies.

“While our work won’t be done until we see a full end to their ban on gay adults once and for all, today’s announcement is a significant step in that direction,” said Scouts for Equality executive director Zach Wahls. “I’m proud to see Dr. Gates charting a course towards full equality in the BSA.”

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As he turns 18, an Eagle Scout asks Robert Gates to allow gay adult Scouts

Pascal Tessier is the first known openly gay Eagle Scout.

Yesterday, Pascal turned 18. This meant that he was now considered an adult by the Boy Scouts of America, and under the current rules adopted by the BSA, Pascal now cannot be a part of the organization that has meant so much to him.

On his 18th birthday, he shared this open letter to former U.S Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who now serves as President of the Boy Scouts of America, wherein he urges Gates to end the ban on gay adult Boy Scouts.  The full essay appeared on Time.com.

Just part of Pascal’s letter reads:

I was just 4 years old when I went on my first camping trip with my older brother and his Cub Scouts pack. After that, I was hooked.

Scouting has been a constant part of my life… The Boy Scouts taught me everything from how to survive in the woods to the morals and values that shaped the person I am today. For that, and for the good times and friends I made through Scouting, I will always be grateful.

Today is my 18th birthday, a milestone on my path to becoming an adult and the day I am no longer eligible to be a Boy Scout because I am gay. Despite the Boy Scouts’ historic decision last year to open its ranks to gay youth, the Scouts still ban gay adults. And as of today, that means me.

Mr. Gates, only you have the power and experience to bring an end to the unwarranted, unjust and un-Scout like ban on gay adults. Every day that you do nothing, more boys and parents struggle with their place in Scouting, in their communities and in their families.

Not long ago, Mr. Gates, you were instrumental in the repeal of the military’s ban on gay service members, telling the U.S. Senate in February 2010 that, “The question before us is not whether the military prepares to make this change [to allow gay service members], but how we best prepare for it.”

Openly gay adults will eventually be allowed in Scouting, Mr. Gates. As support for equality continues to grow, Americans will soon demand it. The question before you, then, is not whether the ban should end, but how many more young people like me will be a victim of your failed leadership if you do nothing.

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Boy Scouts of America to lead NYC Pride Parade

GLAAD shares the historic news that for the first time, New York-area Boy Scouts and members of the Brooklyn Chapter of Scouts for Equality will be among the groups leading the 44th Annual NYC Pride March:

Active and former Boy Scouts and leaders will present the American flag during the national anthem at the NYC Pride March opening ceremony and subsequently serve as Color Guard during the march, leading more than 14,000 participants down Fifth Avenue in a celebration of recent advancements made for LGBT equality.

Despite the BSA’s national policy that bans gay and lesbian adults from participating in Scouting, the Greater New York Councils, which serves nearly 150,000 Scouts in New York City, has previously stated its commitment to full inclusion of gay Scouts regardless of age.

“NYC Pride warmly welcomes Scouts for Equality to the route as our 2014 NYC Pride March Color Guard,” said NYC Pride March Director, Dave Studinski. “Our 2014 theme is ‘We Have Won When We’re One,’ and this message resonates well with Scouts for Equality’s mission. From their participation in our step-off ceremony through the moment they pass the historic Stonewall Inn, may the Scout’s joint display of our nation’s colors and the rainbow flag remind us all that the LGBT movement seeks not tolerance, but acceptance as equals.”

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New Boys Scouts president Bill Gates would include openly gay Scoutmasters

Bill Gates, former Secretary of Defense and director of the CIA, is the newly elected president of the Boy Scouts of America.

In one of his first interviews as BSA president, Gates says he would have included openly gay adult Scoutmasters during the organizations debate on gay scouts. But now he says it would be too problematic to revisit the issue at this time.

Via Gay Star News:

‘I was prepared to go further than the decision that was made,’ Gates told the Associated Press the day after he was elected.

‘I would have supported having gay Scoutmasters, but at the same time, I fully accept the decision that was democratically arrived at by 1,500 volunteers from across the entire country.’

Gates went on to say he fears the contentious issue of gay scout leaders may cause bigger divisions within the BSA, and so he does not want to open up the gay debate again.

‘Given the strong feelings — the passion — involved on both sides of this matter, I believe strongly that to re-open the membership issue or try to take last year’s decision to the next step would irreparably fracture and perhaps even provoke a formal, permanent split in this movement — with the high likelihood neither side would subsequently survive on its own’ he said.

During his time as Defense Secretary, Gates was instrumental in ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for US Armed Forces.