In My Opinion: Sexual orientation is irrelevant to scouting
July 17, 2015
As I enter my adult life, I sometimes reflect on how blind I was to the injustices of the world when I first became a Cub Scout – second grade. It’s amazing how unaware I was that scouts and adult leaders were being ousted from the Boy Scouts of America solely on the basis of sexual orientation. In the second grade, I didn’t even know what sexual orientation was, much less that someone could be removed from an organization that espouses the values of friendliness and kindness on those grounds.
Now, I’m not a Cub Scout in the second grade, naive to this problem. I am an Eagle Scout who has experienced more of life, and been exposed to the discrimination against people who are attracted to the same sex.
Last week, the BSA Executive Committee unanimously approved allowing openly gay adults to serve as leaders in the organization. While an important step, it still faces National Executive Board approval, which is expected to happen July 27.
For the first time in the history of the Boy Scouts of America, openly gay men will be able to participate in their sons’ scouting experiences. They will now be able to watch their sons grow, as my father was able to watch me grow during my time scouting.
Celebrating this correction of an injustice will be cut short, however. Already there are groups seeking to undermine this decision. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released an announcement saying that it will continue to ensure that scout leaders in the troops that it charters are “consistent with our doctrines and beliefs.” While it is their prerogative under the resolution to be approved by the National Executive Board, doing so would likely lead to the continued discrimination against gay adults in the BSA.
This is reminiscent of the backlash the BSA received when in 2013, the ban on openly gay youth was removed. The non-denominational church that sponsored my troop for the ten years prior withdrew its support of the BSA as a result of that decision, forcing us to find a new chartering organization to host our troop.
Scouting should be open to all boys and men, regardless of sexual orientation. My years in the Boy Scouts have taught me many lessons of life and maturity that could have taken me a lifetime to learn otherwise. I’ve experienced the pitfalls of an inefficient meeting, discovered the importance of being punctual, and acquired innumerable outdoor skills that will benefit me for the rest of my life.
Closing these benefits to people on such an irrelevant issue like sexual orientation, and encouraging the isolation of and discrimination against gay boys and men is strikingly dispassionate and un-Christlike.
As someone who was a scout for 12 years and continues to be involved as an adult to this day, I appeal to everyone who opposes the resolution and to everyone who hasn’t decided their view yet: celebrate this decision with me.
Bill Louree LU-'58 • Jul 18, 2015 at 7:32 pm
Gage Counts, I assume, is associated with LUNO as an employee or student. LUNO is a Jesuit and Catholic institution. Scout units chartered to various Catholic schools and parishes will have a decision to make regarding adult leadership under the proposed option to allow homosexual leadership. Since the church still teaches that homosexual acts are sinful it is not logical that they will approve such individuals as leaders. It will be interesting to see what the National Catholic Committee on Scouting has to say on this issue. (I am an Eagle Scout and a former member of the Maroon staff as well as a former employee of the BSA..)
Gage Counts • Jul 27, 2015 at 6:24 pm
Bill,
You are correct in saying that the Church teaches that homosexual acts are sinful. However, the Church also draws a distinction between being disposed toward sin and committing sin. It is not sinful – according the Church – to simply be attracted to the same sex (it is not a sin to *be* something). Unless the Church decides to perform obtrusive probes into gay men’s lives, there is no way of knowing whether they are actually sinning. Since it’s doubtful that any entity would perform such probes, refusing to allow openly gay men to serve as leaders would be purely unjustly discriminatory.
In addition, it’s not a very Christian practice to discriminate against people for committing sin. If this was common and consistent practice, I’m certain that many people would be refused charitable help, in the forms of housing, education, therapy, and food relief.
If it’s logical to provide those services to sinners – and to be clear, the Church teaches that all people are sinners – then it is also logical to allow adult leaders in the BSA to be openly homosexual.
It’s entirely possible that some Catholic churches will refuse to allow gay adults to serve as leaders, it would be inconsistent with Catholic principles.