In the end, the demise of the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on gay troop leaders seemed inevitable.
The ban always relied upon the canard that gay men are pedophiles and that scouting was incompatible with anything gay. And a policy based on lies cannot be maintained forever.
Once the BSA admitted gay scouts in 2013, troop leaders were bound to follow, particularly when everyone from the President on down hammers you endlessly for the ban–and your only supporters are among the most loathed factions in American politics.
Ending the Boy Scout ban neatly parallels the fight for marriage equality, right down to the timeline. The struggle to lift the Scouts’ antigay ban began in earnest in the early 1990s, with some key court cases, and really picked up steam in the 2000s.
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Like marriage equality, the first major victory was partial, followed two years later by complete victory. And like marriage equality, religious right figures see the end of the BSA ban as the end of the world, with headline proclaiming the “moral collapse” of the Scouts.
There’s one big difference, and it’s not a good one. The new regulations have a religious liberty exemption baked into them. Because so many troops are sponsored by churches–particularly Mormon and Catholic–the BSA decided to let the troop sponsors set their own rules about troop leaders.
Which of course means that in many troops, nothing will change. Of course, some churches severed their ties with the Scouts two years ago for allowing gay youth to join. But in many remaining church-sponsored troops, the ban will remain in effect.
No doubt, the BSA hopes to put decades’ worth of bad press and years’ worth of declining corporate sponsorship behind them. Scout numbers have been falling like a rock in large part because BSA turned itself into an adjunct of the religious right. The question ahead is whether the change has come too late and with too many strings to change the decline.
If it hasn’t, the religious right will be quick to pin the blame on the change itself, not the damage that the ban had done to the organization and to so many good people.
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Terry Purdue
Just…crazy
MacAdvisor
If I may suggest, the religious exemption is very practical and best for the boys, the real focus here. A ban on organizations that refused to allow gay leaders would have been wildly disruptive and likely caused the end to well more than half the troops in the country. That would a disaster for the millions of boys, particularly in small, rural towns with few options, who never have the scouting experience. Worse, it might cause an alternative organization, completely under the control of the religious right, to form and fill the void.
For those who wish to serve, the alternative is to start their own troop, not sponsored by a troop, and compete. As more and more troops are sponsored by inclusive sponsor, the power of the religious right on troops will fall away. Few people have been willing to sponsor troops because of the discrimination are now free to do so. Even in small towns, the local business and schools can now sponsor troops, as was the case for most of scout history. The religious sponsored troops will simply fade away.
As long as theBSA strictly and actively enforces it rules on equality for scouts, the issue of scout leadership will solve itself in time. We should always fight for inclusiveness and equality, but we should do so by sacrificing the positive experiences of children. We are the good guys, remember, we must act that way.
Jon Andrews
It’s about time!!!
jwtraveler
So individual troops are no longer REQUIRED to discriminate against gay leaders. Now it’s only optional. WOW! That’s a FANTASTIC improvement.
Now what about the atheists? Will they make it optional to burn them at the stake?
JAW
@MacAdvisor:
Well said… and as you can see the extreme left wingers are crying about the exemption
If you are not happy that the troop near you allows or does not allow gay leaders… then form your on troop… BSA allows you to do that.
dwbyers1960
Gay Nazi’s at it again!
sweetbrandigirl2004
This decsion today just throws more gas on the fire so to speak. Boy scout groups are going to still be doing activities together and when the church scouts leaders end up at an event where there are gays scout leaders sparks will fly. The Boys Scouts are in desperation ode now trying to keep their heads above water because their once mighty institution is dying. I think they should have just cut the cord with the church groups and started building their ranks a refresh.
Leonard Woodrow
The scout movement relies on the enthusiasm of the young generation, and the young generation nowadays is a lot wiser than their elders as far as sexuality is concerned. Accept or die.