The Boy Scouts of America Are Paying for Their Discriminatory Ways

When you've got a 100-year-old existence rooted in excluding gays and lesbians from leadership positions, you've got to figure that some bad karma will be coming your way. Such is the case with the Boy Scouts of America, which has had a pretty rough 2010 by most anyone's estimate.

First came a stinging letter in February from several members of the U.S. House of Representatives, blasting the group for denying two lesbian moms in Vermont the chance to lead a Cub Scout troop for their son. "The Boy Scouts are teaching America's youth at impressionable ages that lesbians and gays are to be excluded because they are different," the letter said, urging the Boy Scouts of America to drop their policy banning LGBT people from participating in scouting. Strike one for the Boy Scouts of America.

Then, in mid-April, the California State Legislature refused to commemorate the Boy Scouts' centennial anniversary, citing the discriminatory policies of the organization as reason number one. To really hammer home the point, the California legislature subsequently handed out a hearty thank you to the Girls Scouts of America, specifically mentioning how inclusive the Girl Scouts are (they have no blanket ban on members based on sexual orientation). Strike two for the Boy Scouts of America.

Then, earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case brought by the Boy Scouts of America over whether the Scouts should be able to lease public land from the city of San Diego. In 2003, a Judge in San Diego ruled that so long as the Boy Scouts discriminate against LGBT people and atheists, they had no right to lease the land. Strike three for the Boy Scouts of America.

Bill Clinton once phrased the definition of insanity as doing the same thing over and over again. In this case, the Boy Scouts might fit the bill, because by continually denying LGBT people the chance to join their ranks, they're putting themselves in these positions that are lose-lose situations.

The frustrating part about all of this is that while on an institutional level the Boy Scouts of America seem more hesitant than ever to change their policy on banning gays, at a local level, scouts and scoutmasters don't seem to give a fly fishing reel whether folks are straight or gay. They just want to have fun, and be a part of an organization with the potential to create some cool role models for us all. Such is the point made by Robert Thomson, an intern (and former Eagle Scout) with Equality California.

"It appears that many Scouting members and leaders are opposed to the headquarters’ narrow-minded stance of discrimination. A search of Scouting blogs reveal(s) numerous posts by leaders and Scouts, against the anti-LGBT policy," writes Thomson. "If the Boy Scouts wish to return to their standing as outstanding citizens then they need to be teaching tolerance and acceptance, not discrimination and shame."

Well, let it be so. Send the Boy Scouts of America a message that 100 years of discrimination is too long.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons