If anyone thinks prejudice and discrimination no longer exist in the U.S., they obviously don’t know the Boy Scouts of America. Unfortunately, after considering the removal of its ban on homosexual scouts and leaders, the Boy Scouts decided to continue its homophobic policies by delaying the vote until May.
This move by the Boy Scouts is unacceptable. Not only will the Boy Scouts continue its exclusionist policies, it also shows it has little courage to stand to the pressure from the religious right. It’s a shame to see a program such as the Boy Scouts, which does so much good for young Americans, follow discriminatory policies which they should have moved on from a long time ago.
The Boy Scouts has been in bed with the religious for years, particularly its biggest sponsor, the Mormon Church. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accounts for 15 percent of the Boy Scouts membership. Boy Scouts also depend on the church for fundraising. In 2000, during a Supreme Court case of the Boy Scout’s discriminatory policy, an attorney for the Mormon Church wrote, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—the largest single sponsor of Scouting units in the United States—would withdraw from Scouting if it were compelled to accept openly homosexual scout leaders.”
The Roman Catholic Church has also been a major influence on the Boy Scouts anti-gay policies, and as much as 70 percent of all Boy Scouts members are sponsored by religious organizations. The religious influence ultimately led the Boy Scouts to release an official statement in 1991, which deemed homosexuals as an undesirable model for scouts. The Boy Scouts has also banned atheists and agnostics because of the same principle.
The Boy Scouts claims gays and atheists are bad role models for young Americans. My question is what makes them so bad? This claim seems to be based on a silly, homophobic idea that homosexuals will corrupt the youth of the U.S. and turn others gay. In fact, supporters of the ban have argued gay adults are more likely to sexually abuse children than straight adults, a claim which has conclusively been disproven by scientific research.
These old-fashioned, social Darwinist beliefs that homosexuals and atheists are going to indoctrinate our youth or are somehow morally inferior is destroying America’s social progress. Despite this country’s claim that “all men are created equal,” we will not have an equal society until we can move past bigoted ideas and truly accept people from all walks of life. It seems what the Boy Scouts and the religious right are really afraid of is challenging their narrow-minded view of the world, which is defined by strict fundamentalist standards and does not question its own authenticity. Those are ideas of the past and it’s time to move on.
Making matters worse, the Boy Scouts has received public funding from the federal government while its hateful policies have been in effect. This includes the National Scouts Jamboree, which is held at Fort A.P. Hill Army, Vi. This event costs approximately $2 million of taxpayer money annually and is financed by the Department of Defense. The Boy Scouts also has access to public schools and other government buildings for meetings and activities. What ever happened to separation of church and state? The Boy Scouts has become a de facto religious organization and requires its members to make an oath to God. With separation of church and state, there should be no reason why the Boy Scouts receives federal funding. Furthermore, federal money should not go to any organization that discriminates against anyone for any reason, whether it’s race, disability, sexual orientation, or religion.
Before its May vote, the Boy Scouts should review its anti-gay policies and reflect how effective they are. Since 2000, Its membership has declined from 3.4 million to approximately 2.7 million. Corporate sponsors, such as UPS, Intel and United Way, have dropped donations to the Boy Scouts because of its anti-gay policies. Corporate sponsors don’t want to contribute to anything which could potentially label them as anti-gay and the American people don’t want any private organization to practice discriminatory policies.
For the Boy Scouts, it’s time. It’s time to move on past the prejudiced policies of the past. It’s time for them to take a stand against the religious right and show it has the guts to tell religious organizations they’re wrong about this issue. Furthermore, it’s time for the Boy Scouts to admit it has been wrong about this issue for the last few decades and to correct its mistakes.
