It's hard to cheer. The Boy Scouts of America has decided to allow
gay kids to be Scouts...but will maintain a ban on gay adult leaders. A story at the NYT tells how one gay Scout sees this change:
Tessier is on track to receive his Eagle Scout award — he only needs to complete his final project — but said he is troubled that on his 18th birthday he could transform from someone holding Scouting's highest rank to someone unfit to be a part of the organization."That one couple hours (between 17 and 18) will make me not a good person," he said.
It's that twisted. But hey, gay Scouts are in. Let's see how long the ban on gay adult leaders lasts. Not long, I would think.
I
do have another concern, one I don't see echoed in any of the stories
about this change at BSA. As matters stand, I think there's good reason
to worry about handing your gay kid over to a straight male Scout leader
who could easily be a homophobe. I'll bet there are lots of anti-gay
nutjobs leading troops right now. Remember, the BSA has been a safe haven for such men for a very long time. For this reason, the
BSA needs to arrange for a competent gay organization to provide
sensitivity training sessions for all current and future leaders. And
that's just the start. We'll also need to monitor how gay Scouts are
treated by adult staff (and by straight Scouts who have been
brain-damaged by all the crazy talk that preceded this decision).
But for today, let's just sit back and wait for wingnut heads to explode. This should be fun.
