Scouting For Boys??
One Of the More Unusual Posts I've Written...
I just saw a link to a Reuters news release about the Boy Scouts of America reversing its long-standing ban on allowing gays in the organization. According to the story, gay youths will be allowed, but the ban on gay leadership will remain in place.
I'm not sure I'm 100% on board with this decision, but it's one I can live with.
Most of you long-time readers know I was involved in Scouting for many years. Started as a 11 year old, worked my way up through the ranks and earned my Eagle award the summer after I graduated high school.
Along the way I served in various leadership posts within my home troop and in "maverick" troops during winter camp sessions, and served several summers as a BSA camp staffer.
Although I miss Scouting, I haven't done any volunteering in a long time. As fat & out of shape as I am, I don't think I fit the "physically strong" part of the Scout Oath, and I'm more an example of what not to do instead of a worthy role model.
Still, I keep up with what's going on via the National Eagle Scout Association and the local Council news. The 'Gays In Scouting' has been a hot button issue for years.
I've purposely not commented on it in the past on this blog. I've got readers who are Scouters and readers who are gay, and readers who are both. I try not to intentionally cause offence or hurt others, and commentary on that issue probably would. So, I kept my mouf' shut.
About a month ago I received an email from the Boy Scouts of America linking to a survey. They were interested in what former Scouters were feeling about the issue of gays in the organization.
It wasn't an easy survey to take. On one hand, you're balancing what you know about gays, human sexuality, etc. on one hand, and on the other you've got what you've seen over the years as a participant.
F'rinstance... It's possible to be gay and to not molest young boys. I know plenty of gay men, and their preference generally runs to mature males. They get just as squicked out by the suggestion that they have sex with a young boy as I do by the idea of sex with a young girl.
However... There wasn't a year that went by at summer camp when someone on either the camp staff or serving as a troop leader wasn't frogmarched out of camp for some sort of indiscretion. Some were proven to be full-on molestation cases, others were games of slap & tickle that crossed the boundaries of acceptable behavior.
In either case, it usually came as a shock to the rest of the camp staff, since the ejected person rarely if ever presented as the least bit "swishy".
So, maybe it is OK to have flaming queens run the troops... I dunno...
At any rate, while being gay doesn't make you a pedophile, being a male preying on young boys does put you on the "gay" side of the divide. And for that reason, I'm not gonna kick up a fuss about gays not being allowed in leadership roles.
As for the kids, well, boys are nasty creatures that tend to whip out their dicks and whiz on any tree, rock or animal within reach, so there's no display of genitalia that will suddenly make young men go all nelly. No, you are what you are, and most kids tend to keep that sort of thing under wraps until they're in college anyway, so I don't foresee a BSA Circle-Jerk merit badge on the horizon...
I just saw a link to a Reuters news release about the Boy Scouts of America reversing its long-standing ban on allowing gays in the organization. According to the story, gay youths will be allowed, but the ban on gay leadership will remain in place.
I'm not sure I'm 100% on board with this decision, but it's one I can live with.
Most of you long-time readers know I was involved in Scouting for many years. Started as a 11 year old, worked my way up through the ranks and earned my Eagle award the summer after I graduated high school.
Along the way I served in various leadership posts within my home troop and in "maverick" troops during winter camp sessions, and served several summers as a BSA camp staffer.
Although I miss Scouting, I haven't done any volunteering in a long time. As fat & out of shape as I am, I don't think I fit the "physically strong" part of the Scout Oath, and I'm more an example of what not to do instead of a worthy role model.
Still, I keep up with what's going on via the National Eagle Scout Association and the local Council news. The 'Gays In Scouting' has been a hot button issue for years.
I've purposely not commented on it in the past on this blog. I've got readers who are Scouters and readers who are gay, and readers who are both. I try not to intentionally cause offence or hurt others, and commentary on that issue probably would. So, I kept my mouf' shut.
About a month ago I received an email from the Boy Scouts of America linking to a survey. They were interested in what former Scouters were feeling about the issue of gays in the organization.
It wasn't an easy survey to take. On one hand, you're balancing what you know about gays, human sexuality, etc. on one hand, and on the other you've got what you've seen over the years as a participant.
F'rinstance... It's possible to be gay and to not molest young boys. I know plenty of gay men, and their preference generally runs to mature males. They get just as squicked out by the suggestion that they have sex with a young boy as I do by the idea of sex with a young girl.
However... There wasn't a year that went by at summer camp when someone on either the camp staff or serving as a troop leader wasn't frogmarched out of camp for some sort of indiscretion. Some were proven to be full-on molestation cases, others were games of slap & tickle that crossed the boundaries of acceptable behavior.
In either case, it usually came as a shock to the rest of the camp staff, since the ejected person rarely if ever presented as the least bit "swishy".
So, maybe it is OK to have flaming queens run the troops... I dunno...
At any rate, while being gay doesn't make you a pedophile, being a male preying on young boys does put you on the "gay" side of the divide. And for that reason, I'm not gonna kick up a fuss about gays not being allowed in leadership roles.
As for the kids, well, boys are nasty creatures that tend to whip out their dicks and whiz on any tree, rock or animal within reach, so there's no display of genitalia that will suddenly make young men go all nelly. No, you are what you are, and most kids tend to keep that sort of thing under wraps until they're in college anyway, so I don't foresee a BSA Circle-Jerk merit badge on the horizon...
posted by El Capitan | 2:12 PM
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