QUEER QUOTE: Boy Scouts Rescind Homophobic Ban On Openly Gay Adult Troop Leaders

The Boy Scouts of America announced on Monday that their board of directors had voted to lift their blanket ban on openly gay scout leaders, simultaneously allowing individual chapters sponsored by religious groups to maintain their own separate bans on openly LGBT scout leaders.

Both LGBT groups and the Mormon church are unhappy with the Scouts announcement. Their responses are excerpted below and are today's Queer Quote.

Zach Wahls of Scouts for Equality said:

“While we still have some reservations about individual units discriminating against gay adults, we couldn’t be more excited about the future of Scouting. We look forward to collaborating with our supporters, progressive faith partners, allied non-profit organizations, and the Boy Scouts of America to ensure a fully inclusive Scouting movement.”

Human Right Campaign's Chad Griffin said:

"[I]ncluding an exemption for troops sponsored by religious organizations undermines and diminishes the historic nature of today's decision.  Discrimination should have no place in the Boy Scouts, period. BSA officials should now demonstrate true leadership and begin the process of considering a full national policy of inclusion that does not allow discrimination against anyone because of who they are."

But the heterosexual supremacists of the Mormon Church were not happy either, and intimated they might sever their relationship with the Boy Scouts over the move:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is deeply troubled by today’s vote by the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board. In spite of a request to delay the vote, it was scheduled at a time in July when members of the Church’s governing councils are out of their offices and do not meet. When the leadership of the Church resumes its regular schedule of meetings in August, the century-long association with Scouting will need to be examined. The Church has always welcomed all boys to its Scouting units regardless of sexual orientation. However, the admission of openly gay leaders is inconsistent with the doctrines of the Church and what have traditionally been the values of the Boy Scouts of America. As a global organization with members in 170 countries, the Church has long been evaluating the limitations that fully one-half of its youth face where Scouting is not available. Those worldwide needs combined with this vote by the BSA National Executive Board will be carefully reviewed by the leaders of the Church in the weeks ahead.

There ya go!

Zach Wahls Talks About His Lesbian Moms At DNC

Zach Wahls is a well-known straight ally from Iowa who has become prominent in that state's battle over marriage equality. He is an Eagle Scout who grew up with lesbian moms. Recently, he addressed the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.
hat/tip to Joe.My.God

Boy Scouts Reaffirm Anti-Gay Position

Zach Wahls, famous straight ally from Iowa with two lesbian moms,
 is an Eagle Scout trying to change the homophobic Boy Scout policy

The Boy Scouts of America, one of the most capriciously anti-gay private organizations in the United States, announced on Tuesday that they were going to retain their notorious policy of excluding openly gay boys who want to belong to the organization, after a an alleged review that took two years. (This policy also excludes boys who are openly atheist or agnostic.)

According to the AP:

The Scouts' national spokesman, Deron Smith, told The Associated Press that an 11-member special committee, formed discreetly by top Scout leaders in 2010, came to the conclusion that the exclusion policy "is absolutely the best policy" for the 102-year-old organization. 

[...]

As a result of the committee's decision, the Scouts' national executive board will take no further action on a resolution submitted at its recent national conference asking for reconsideration of the membership policy.

The Scouts' chief executive, Bob Mazzuca, contended that most Scout families support the policy, which applies to both adult leaders and Scouts.

"The vast majority of the parents of youth we serve value their right to address issues of same-sex orientation within their family, with spiritual advisers and at the appropriate time and in the right setting," Mazzuca said. "We fully understand that no single policy will accommodate the many diverse views among our membership or society."

Gee, I wonder how they know that the vast majority of current Scout parents believe  the current policy is correct? Could it be because the vast majority of current Scout parents are Mormon?

It is somewhat curious that the policy was announced now, because when the review was announced way back in 2010, it was said that the decision would happen in 2013. But, it is believed that the outgoing president of the organization supports the policy while the incoming president of the organization does not.

The Boy Scouts of America have the right to discriminate in their membership on the basis of sexual orientation due to a famous Supreme Court case from 2000 called Dale v. United States which was argued by Freedom to Marry founder and executive director Evan Wolfson when he worked for Lambda  Legal. Despite winning the case, the Boy Scouts have become increasingly controversial for their bizarre policy, which is clearly out of step with the rest of society becoming more tolerant towards homosexuality. The Girl Scouts of America have long allowed (and affirmed) the participation of LGBT parents and kids and Boy Scouts organizations in other countries like Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom all allow openly gay people to belong to the organization, thus demonstrating exactly how capricious the Boy Scouts of America policy is.

Hat/tip to TowleRoad.