Boy Scouts' Repeal Of Gay Ban Mirrors Its Approach To Racial Integration

As Boy Scouts of America mulls whether to allow gay members to openly join, their approach might mirror the leave-it-to-the-locals tack the organization once took in deciding how to tackle the issue of desegregating its scout troops.

[nhjeff]

Wow. Some councils prohibited blacks until 1974. That was just about the end of my jaunt with the Scouts. It wouldn't have been an issue in my lily white church, but it would never have occurred to me that a black might have been excluded. We met a few blacks at summer camp, and I can't recall anyone ever making an issue about it.

[snyper]

This was a bit of history I didn't know.

[TomInElPaso]

Many dont realize it is believed the founder of the Scouts was Gay.

[snyper]

TomInElPaso wrote:

Many dont realize it is believed the founder of the Scouts was Gay.

British romanticism makes it difficult to be certain, but the marks are certainly there.

[David Traversa]

That the Boy Scouts have to go through this at all proves that for some people the so-called Democracy and all that "sweet land of liberty" patriotic hymn singing is just so much sham..

[snyper]

proof wrote:

Sorry but where are you coming up with the founder of Scouts may have been gay? Baden Powell was married to Olave Baden-Powell, and there is no evidence that he was gay!

Look up "beard", very common among gay gentlemen of the period.

[Rick in Kansas]

proof wrote:

Sorry but where are you coming up with the founder of Scouts may have been gay? Baden Powell was married to Olave Baden-Powell, and there is no evidence that he was gay!

Wanna bet?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/opinion/sco...

[snyper]

Wereisyourproof wrote:

<quoted text>
I love these kind of articles that have no proof, "speculated" and "probably" "may have" is not proof but people injecting their own personal beliefs to make it fit their ideas!
Could have, might have, may have, probably, yet not one single piece of evidence to back up this claim.

It's in the book being referenced.

Remember, they want you to buy the book.

[TomInElPaso]

Also married guys include a Bathroom stall toe tapping Senator, a so called minister with a penchant for Gay prostitutes and a very very anti-gay research expert who hired male escort to carry his luggage on a European vacation.!

Next!

proof wrote:

Sorry but where are you coming up with the founder of Scouts may have been gay? Baden Powell was married to Olave Baden-Powell, and there is no evidence that he was gay!

[Rick in Kansas]

Wereisyourproof wrote:

I love these kind of articles that have no proof, "speculated" and "probably" "may have" is not proof but people injecting their own personal beliefs to make it fit their ideas!
Could have, might have, may have, probably, yet not one single piece of evidence to back up this claim.

No "proof", Gracie? "Not one single piece of evidence"? You didn't actually read the article did you, sweetie? That's okay, but when you eventually do, you are going to feel just a wee bit foolish.

[Rick in Kansas]

snyper wrote:

It's in the book being referenced.
Remember, they want you to buy the book.

You know that he never even looked at it. He couldn't have read even the first couple of paragraphs and come back in THAT much denial. I had heard Baden Powell was gay before, but even I wasn't aware there was that much obvious evidence of it.

[Rick in Kansas]

Dontthink so wrote:

I did read the article, it had no proof just the writers speculation and feelings of what he thought, there were facts to back it up!

A very Freudian response. Let's see if you can figure out what you actually just said.

[TomInElPaso]

You do realize there are Scouting groups all around the world and not one nation other than ours has found fit to discriminate against homosexuals. That says a lot about our nations so called Christian religion. It's absolutely no better than the Shite Muslims. It's well past time for the Boy Scouts to stand up against religious bigotry which exactly mirrors their attitude toward Negroes even into the 1970s. They should be ashamed of themselves on both counts.

Hmmm wrote:

<quoted text>
The Boy Scouts is a religion based organization, and thus the anti gay mandate. Now that the scouts have caved into this they will find that their membership will drop drastically as Gay leaders are injected into it. The members who are there join for learning outdoor skills from male role models they can look up to and aspire to be like. Not likely that parents will enroll their boys with flamboyantly gay leaders or surround their sons with other gay boys! Yes there are closet gays in the leadership and membership, but as soon as these boys come out the rest of the boys distance themselves from them. The fact is by the time these boys figure out they are gay they are too old for scouts any way! I don't agree in forcing an organization you have the choice of joining or not joining to conform to your beliefs, especial ally one that is religion based such as scouts, which many troops and packs are run out of churches and church groups.
But on the same note the scouts can't be hypocrites and cover up adult leaders pedi file or others illegal behaviors. We had an adult leader in our area caught posting naked photos of herself on the Internet and she was providing a link with these photos that took you to a website where she was selling photos she had taken of minors at scout meetings and events without the knowledge or consent of the parents, this alone was illegal, and creepy! They told the parents that they couldn't,let the other parents know about what was going on in her website, which was public, saying it would be defamation of her character, intimidating the parents into not telling. She wasn't removed and was even promoted within the council! So if the scouts want to not be pushed around by gay leaders to change their doctrine then they shouldn't cover up for inappropriate leaders!