Boy Scouts lift ban on gay leaders

a reply to: eriktheawful

Thanks for revealing those details, that makes me feel alot better. Possible one on one time is what had me concerned. Hopefully all branches stick to these rules, if so then everything should be fine.

a reply to: Darth_Prime

Anyone that wants to can go over to myscouting.org web site, it's free to register and click on E-Learning. You can watch all the videos on the training we go through, including the Youth Protection training.

We ask ALL parent who enter their boy into Cub Scouts or Boy Scouts to also watch the videos, even if they are not planning on becoming leaders, so that they understand the rules too. We have plenty of parents that show up at like a camp out, and don't understand why little Jimmy can't have his best friend, another scout, sleep in their tent too, until we explain it to them.

All the boys at scouting events (camping, jamborees, outings of any kind) are required to be with a buddy. This goes for not only the youngest Cub Scouts who might be only 7 or 8, but even the Boy Scouts who may be in their teens. This isn't just to keep them from getting lost alone, but also to keep them safe from abuse that might happen with an adult.

The BSA takes this VERY seriously. If we can't keep our boys (and their sibs and family safe), then we are failing. The idea is to learn through fun, and to do it safely.

a reply to: eriktheawful

Thank you again for sharing, i thought they would take that very seriously.

so was the Ban on Gay leaders strictly Religious Reasons?

a reply to: Darth_Prime

To tell you the truth, I don't know. It might have been. A lot of churches charter different cub scout packs and boy scout troops. They may have threaten to stop sponsoring them....which I can tell you would hurt. We would loose a lot of the BSA over something like that.

But then we have a very old leader who helped form the Troop and Pack that is also the charter rep from the church that sponsors us. I remember him saying the following one night around the camp fire after all the kids were in bed in their tents:

"Gay scouts? Hell, at that age, they don't even know what sex is, much less what they want!" (he was talking about young cub scouts (ages 6 to 11) when the BSA said that gay boys could join the BSA.
He also said "What people do in their own homes isn't any of my business. I don't care if you're a man, a woman....or not sure what you are. As long as you follow the Youth Protection, it doesn't matter."

a reply to: eriktheawful

So, was the Ban based predominately by outside people and parents, more so than the actually Boy Scouts and it's leaders?

originally posted by: RealTruthSeeker

i mean, they are not like your Local Sex offender.. unless they are a Sex offender in which case i am sure the Boy Scouts would not even let them interview

I think gay and sex offender are two didn't things... lol

Also both sides of the coin are concerned with sex offenders, gay or straight. I'm trying to understand your view point and so let me take a stab at it. You feel that allowing gays into boy scouts will also allow gay sex offenders easier access to boys, am I close? I would say that most gay sex offenders would most likely hide their preference to protect what they do, until they are caught.

BTW do Girl Scouts allow gays to be both leaders and girl scouts? Can a gay boy or man join the girl scouts too, and can a gay female join the boy scouts?

I wouldn't allow my daughters to join a girl scout troop with male or lesbian leaders, or sons join a boy scout troop with female or gay leaders, that's just me though. Lucky for parents with many troops within driving distance to choose from, and there are other options like royal rangers.

a reply to: Xtrozero

Girl Scouts accept Lesbians and Transgenders.

I've read of one Boy Scout troop that accepted a girl because there were no girl scouting programs in the area. Officially, its not allowed as far as I know.

Adult men can be Girl Scout leaders.

originally posted by: TKDRL
I wouldn't allow my daughters to join a girl scout troop with male or lesbian leaders, or sons join a boy scout troop with female or gay leaders, that's just me though. Lucky for parents with many troops within driving distance to choose from, and there are other options like royal rangers.

Cool, you do know that the vast majority of Cub Scout Leaders are women?

*AHEM*

Eagle Scout here.

There are all kinds of troops. Some do more outdoor adventure stuff, some do more "car camping". Some are strict about uniforms, some not. Some are run out of a church, and all the members go to that church.

There are troops for everyone. If a parent doesn't want their boy in a troop that has a gay scout leader/volunteer -- they can choose to go to another troop, or start their own. It's really not that big of a deal.

In my home town we had a "Catholic troop" and a "Mormon troop" and a "everyone" troop...

Gay people are what, 10% of the population or less? Pedos are a minority already, so it stands to figure that gay pedos are a very, VERY tiny minority. I simply don't think it's a concern at all.

Sexuality was never discussed in scouts, except some videos put out by the BSA on inappropriate touching and to TELL SOMEONE if it happened. The videos weren't graphic at all, and even strict Christians wouldn't find fault with them.

I remember being SLP (senior patrol leader) at summer camp one year. We had a boy that had a crush on one of the male camp counsellors. Some of the other boys found a bunch of hand written love letters the boy had stashed in his duffel bag. I had to run interference between the rest of the boys, him, the camp staff and his parent -- all of this at 17 years old.

It was terrible the way the other kids were harassing him, and I set those kids straight. Kids disciplining other kids -- the adults were not involved until that boy's parents arrived to take him home. He never came back to the troop after that. I keep those other kids away, and did my best to help that poor, confused, embarrassed/ashamed 14 year old.

I saw first hand the cruelty of other adolescent kids -- and I saw how scary being gay is as a young teenager. I hadn't really ever dealt with gay people or gay issues up to that point in my life, but that summer taught me a lot -- and that's what scouts is about, helping grow and teach young men how to become better men.

I hope that man is doing well -- wherever he is. I for one support the BSA in this move, and I doubt it'll change much if anything with established troops. I won't be sending in my Eagle badge or merit badge sash. I won't be boxing up my old uniform and sending back. Upon hearing this, I'm even more proud to have been a part of Scouting.

a reply to: TKDRL


May i ask why you wouldn't want your Son or Daughter to be with a Gay scout leader?

a reply to: Darth_Prime
The same reason I wouldn't want male to female, or female to male.

a reply to: Xtrozero
Really? That wasn't how it was back in my day lol.

a reply to: TKDRL

We had many mothers that helped out in my troop. They often time volunteered as merit badge counsellors, or helped setup at the meetings. I remember the Scoutmaster's wife used to go on our camp outs too. It wasn't a big deal.

I don't understand how having mothers of scouts being involved in any way is detrimental to the troop.

Edit: and in the case of merit badge counseling, we'd go over to their house sometimes on week nights or weekends to go over our progress. We were just grateful one of the adults (regardless of gender) had some time to help us get the requirements crossed off.

a reply to: MystikMushroom
Yeah, we had some troop moms that joined along on some trips as well. But the troop leaders were men. I was a scout mid 80's and switched over to royal rangers after that.

a reply to: TKDRL

We never had any "leaders" that were women, I don't think. But the moms def. were involved. The best troops have the most involved parents. More involvement means you get to do cooler stuff. We would have never made the cover of Boy's Life so many times if we didn't have such active parents bringing all their knowledge, experience, and connections to the troop.

Our scoutmaster was a pilot -- so he had pilot friends. One camping trip we were canoeing a series of lakes. Our scoutmaster had a GPS and sat phone, and sent our coordinates to his pilot buddy, and he flew over in his Cesna and air dropped us steaks....40 miles from civilization. It was awesome.

a reply to: MystikMushroom
Yeah I hear ya. We were never in boys life mag or nothing like that, but my cubscout unit had lots of fun. All the parents were involved and such, buncha rednecks and all, none of that high tech stuff like GPS steakdropping lmao.

originally posted by: RealTruthSeeker

originally posted by: Darth_Prime
a reply to: RealTruthSeeker

So, only Gay people can try and indoctrinate their Sexuality' to people, kind of like the Gay Therapy but in reverse, and to Boy Scouts?

I'm not saying that, nor am I saying that every Gay person who is hired will try this. But it does open the door for this to creep in. I realize the gay community feels that gays are totally harmless, but there are some out there who are just as skanless as the Straights and will find this as the perfect opportunity to do and say as they wish.

OK. Are you talking about the Boy Scouts or the Roman Catholic Church?

a reply to: intrepid
Are they mutually exclusive?

a reply to: TKDRL

How is that the Same as a Gay Leader?

i'm just trying to understand why you wouldn't want your Son or Daughter with a Gay leader?