The Board of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) will meet for three days beginning today at their headquarters in Texas to discuss lifting the ban on gay members from their chapters, with a final vote set for Wednesday, February 6.
Long Beach Area Council Scout Executive John Fullerton emphasized that, particularly locally, the policy has always been one of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” And within a council created in 1919 that serves some 4,500 youth with 1,700 leaders, the implications of such policies are deeply affective on gay youth seeking to be a scout.
“I’ve been here for three and a half years and this has not been an issue,” he said. “Don’t bring it up and we have no issues.”
Many feel that this precise stance, mimicking the controversial policy enacted by the U.S. Armed Forces under the Clinton Administration, imposes a broader ethical issue that doesn’t differ from a strict enforcement of BSA’s anti-gay policy.
The subject of gay men and the Boy Scouts has been wrought with controversy—even forcing its female counterpart, the Girl Scouts of the USA, to announce in 1991 that there are “no membership policies on sexual preference,” after the BSA disturbingly stated that being straight is “moral” and gay men do not provide “a desirable role model for Scouts.”
This official statement from BSA followed the heated removal of Eagle Scout James Dale from his position in 1990 as Assistant Scoutmaster within his New Jersey troop after BSA learned Dale was gay following an interview in a local paper. His case eventually made it the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 after an appeal on behalf of the BSA, in which the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the BSA had violated the State’s public accommodations law. In June of that year, the Supreme Court favored the BSA stating that though the views of the BSA are discriminatory, private organizations nonetheless have the right to exclude someone from membership when it “affects in a significant way the group’s ability to advocate public or private viewpoints.”
As support for LGBTQ issues arose across the nation—gay marriage support in multiple states, the welcoming of gay troops in the U.S. Armed Forces, openly elected public officials—the BSA controversy began to grow quickly, particularly in the spring of 2012.
In April of last year, Ohio Cub Scout den leader Jennifer Tyrrell is removed from her son’s chapter for simply being gay. Beginning a petition, against the BSA’s anti-gay policy, Tyrrell received over 200,000 signatures in three weeks and peaked at over 330,000. This in turn prompted Ohio BSA Board Member David J. Sims to resign:
“I understand that this action was taken as a result of a standing policy of the Boy Scouts of America and that said action is legal. However, Ms. Tyrrell’s removal goes against my fundamental beliefs of how we should treat our fellow human beings and is, in my opinion, wholly discriminatory. I understand that the Boys Scouts of America is free to run its organization as it sees fit, however, I can not formally be a part of it based upon this policy.”
On June 6, BSA officials announced they would consider a resolution that would permit gay members to join, which has led to the aforementioned set of meetings that will culminate in this Wednesday’s vote.
The consideration has not been conducted without public input: the BSA has been tallying yays and nays via phone and email in order for the Board to have a more balanced perspective on the public’s own viewpoint.
Fullerton was hesitant to offer personal support of the ban—even following President Obama’s recent support of the lift—instead relegating himself to the position of the Board.
“The bottom line is this: for us locally, I don’t foresee any major changes. We’re going to continue to serve youth and hopefully be an asset to this community,” he said. “As a local council, we are bound to the national decision. That’s where some of the confusion comes in, with reports coming out that the local chapters can hold discretion… That is a mischaracterization. If the decision is to lift the ban, we are going to be bound by that just as if the decision is not to lift the ban.”
To offer your support or dissent on uplifting the ban, you call the BSA Headquarters at 972-580-2000 or 972-580-2330. A representative will ask if you are for changing the policy to end the ban. Tell the representative you are FOR or AGAINST the policy change. You can also send an email directly to [email protected]