Boy Scouts Reconsider Anti-Gay Stance

The Boy Scouts of America opted to continue their anti-gay policy at least until the next national executive board meeting in May, where they will vote on the fate of the policy.

            The decision to review their stance on allowing gay members came after financial backers reacted negatively to BSA reaffirming their no-gays policy seven months ago.

            Backlash from religious denominations and local donors, who keep the BSA troops regularly funded, pushed the issue into the national spotlight after the initial announcement last week.

            “The BSA is only considering these changes due to media fire,” Eagle Scout Zach Muldrow said. “If the BSA does decided to open up the organization to homosexuals, the image of the ‘perfect boy’ will be destroyed and members loyal to their principles will refuse to be associated with the BSA.”

            Some Eagle Scouts across the country have returned their badges in protest while other members stand behind the traditions of the organization.

            “The value of the Eagle Scout rank is not in the medal, nor the badge nor even in the pride that one gains from obtaining this high praise,” Muldrow said. “The real value of the award is that the Boy Scouts of America has declared you one of it's best. Without the moral qualities that are instilled within every Eagle Scout, the rank has no meaning.”

            Admittance of gay members would still ultimately rest with the troops if the change passed said Troop Leader Eloy Valdes.

            “It is probably better to be an inclusive rather than exclusive organization,” Eloy said. “BSA will lose some people and also gain some people. It’s all a matter of survival nowadays, but as long as the scout oath and law are practiced in the scout movement, I will remain a volunteer leader in the Boy Scouts of America. I pray that all will turn out for the better for everyone concerned.”

            The BSA should re-evaluate their stance and “catch up” with the changing times said Ixchel Rosal, director of the Gender and Sexuality Center at UT.

           “In a very general sense, their stance sends a message that there is something wrong with being LGBT identified,” Rosal said. “My concern is that youth who may be LGBT will internalize this message and feel badly about themselves, which is a risk for their mental health.  Also, for youth who are not LGBT identified, they will see that an institution and people they trust have a certain value system, which they will want to emulate, and thereby perpetuate this stance beyond the Boy Scouts.”