Boy Scouts' homosexual ban conflicts Bay Area California parents

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Boy-Scouts-gay-ban-conflicts-parents-3924253.php

Jill Tucker

Updated 10:22 p.m., Friday, October 5, 2012

Parents across the Bay Area, and especially in San Francisco, have long faced the conundrum of wanting their sons to experience the history and traditions associated with the Boy Scouts yet not wanting to show support for the organization's long-standing ban on "open or avowed homosexuals."

Many families, however, hoped the antiquated rule, which was at times ignored, would be subject to change sooner rather than later.

But that old policy was reinforced this week after a Moraga teen, Ryan Andresen, who had completed all the requirements to become an Eagle Scout, was denied the highest Scout honor because he recently told his friends and family he is a homosexual.

That local decision adhered to the Boy Scouts of America's ban on membership for gays, a policy officially recognized in 1991, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2002 and strongly reiterated by the organization in a July ruling.

The rule, decided by a panel in Texas, was clear: No openly homosexual members.

In San Francisco, the decision shocked Cub Scout parents John and Mary Palmer.

"I guess I was willing to let (the old policy) slide, but when they beat the drum and said we're still there, that upset me," Palmer said.

Yet their son, Miles, 7, loved being a Cub Scout - the campfires, the hikes, the time with friends in a blue uniform with a yellow scarf and a brand new, meticulously earned Tiger badge.

It was the kind of stuff you could do without the uniforms or the badges, but the Scouts offered structure and tradition, said Miles' dad.

But they strongly opposed the exclusionary policy - often compared to the military's former don't ask, don't tell policy, with homosexuals kicked out only if they came out.

Examples of homosexual leaders getting kicked out of their packs can be found across the country, and that often sparked national outrage.

When Moraga mother Karen Andresen took up the fight this week for her son Ryan, support was immediate, with more than 247,900 people so far listed on a Change.org petition urging the pack leaders to sign the teen's Eagle Scout paperwork.

Scouting on the rise

Yet, despite that kind of opposition to the Scout's long-standing policy against homosexual members - a ban that extends to atheists and agnostics - the number of Scouts has continued to grow in San Francisco and across the Bay Area.

There are 1,900 Cub and Boy Scouts in San Francisco, up from 1,200 a decade ago, said Ryan DiBernardo, director of field service for the Bay Area Council.

Across the Bay Area Council, which includes most of Alameda County, San Francisco and part of Daly City, there are 19,000 youth participating, a number increasing by about 3 percent or more a year.

The organization doesn't track the number of families who have left the Scouts because of the policy, DiBernardo said.

"Our focus continues to be on our mission to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law," he said. "We do, however, encourage everyone to review the wide range of work the BSA does as they determine whether or not they should be involved with Scouting."

While national homosexual rights organizations have urged companies to fund only Scout troops that reject the ban, they don't want to see families boycott the Scouts.

The Scouts have long played a significant and positive role in shaping young lives, said Rich Ferraro, spokesman for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD.

"The more families supporting Scouting the better," he said. "We don't disagree with the Boy Scouts of America. We disagree with the policy."

To join or boycott?

Still, San Francisco scouting parent Mike Conte knows of some families who refused to join a pack after the Boy Scouts stood by exclusion of openly homosexual members.

"It was a disappointment that (the Scouts) reiterated their policy instead of following the military and the rest of the country," said Conte, an Eagle Scout. "Most of the families in San Francisco feel the same way. There's a reason we've chosen to raise our kids in the city."

He too faced a decision: Boycott the organization or work to change it from the inside?

He chose the latter.

Nearby in the city, fellow Cub Scout dad Palmer and his wife still weren't so sure.

They wondered whether "a pack of Cub Scouts walking down the street is a symbol of intolerance to a homosexual couple."

But their son Miles didn't want to quit the Cub Scouts.

After talking to friends who are gay and mulling over the issue at the dinner table, the Palmers let Miles stay in the Scouts.

"We're in Cub Scouts in spite of the ruling, not because of it," he said, adding the family decided to promote change from within the organization and urged Miles to write a letter to the Boy Scouts of America.

"I am a Cub Scout in Pack 108," Miles wrote in clear block letters that slanted slightly down the page. "I'm sad you are not letting homosexual people in your community ... My mom and dad are sad too, but they are letting me be a Cub Scout anyway. We hope someday you'll change your mind."

Boy Scout oath:

On my honor, I will do my best

To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;

To help other people at all times;

To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Becoming an Eagle Scout is the highest honor and requires boys to: Earn the five preceding ranks, serve six months in a leadership position, earn 21 merit badges, plan and lead an Eagle Scout service project and complete a Scoutmaster conference. The requirements must be completed before his 18th birthday.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Bad_Daddy

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Scoutmasters all molest young boys, and yet, is anti-gay. ####### is up with that?

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Scoutmasters all molest young boys, and yet, is anti-gay. ####### is up with that?

Why can't the homosexuals create their own version of the Scouts instead of trying to make problems?

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Scoutmasters all molest young boys, and yet, is anti-gay. ####### is up with that?

I actually know someone who had this happen to them.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Scoutmasters all molest young boys, and yet, is anti-gay. ####### is up with that?

Why can't the homosexuals create their own version of the Scouts instead of trying to make problems?

They did.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Big difference between homosexuals and pedophiles.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Big difference between homosexuals and pedophiles.

Yes, but the Boy Scouts believe in training them young.

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Scoutmasters all molest young boys, and yet, is anti-gay. ####### is up with that?

Your confusing Scoutmasters with Catholic Priests.

I don't necessarily agree with the scouts but if they want to have a club for training heterosexual young Men, then why should they not be able to.

If it was a club for the enrichment of any other group-- Black, Latino, Gay, disabled.. etc etc only it would be no problem.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Your confusing Scoutmasters with Catholic Priests.

I don't necessarily agree with the scouts but if they want to have a club for training heterosexual young Men, then why should they not be able to.

If it was a club for the enrichment of any other group-- Black, Latino, Gay, disabled.. etc etc only it would be no problem.

:thumbs:

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Your confusing Scoutmasters with Catholic Priests.

Them too. You don't see too many whiskey drinking, cigar smoking, golf playing priests any more.

I don't necessarily agree with the scouts but if they want to have a club for training heterosexual young Men, then why should they not be able to.

Training them to be gay? Isn't that what scouting is all about?

Edited October 7, 2012 by The Patriot

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

Them too. You don't see too many whiskey drinking, cigar smoking, golf playing priests any more.

Training them to be gay? Isn't that what scouting is all about?

LOl

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/mother-gay-california-boy-scout-fights-eagle-award-034229703.html

Mother of homosexual California Boy Scout fights for Eagle award

Reuters – Fri, Oct 5, 2012

(Reuters) - The mother of a homosexual California Boy Scout denied an Eagle award because of his sexual orientation is fighting to overturn the decision before he turns 18, the cut-off date for the organization's highest honor.

Ryan Andresen's mother, Karen, said the scoutmaster of his Troop 212 in Moraga, a San Francisco suburb, had refused to grant Eagle status to Ryan, who has been a scout since age 6, even though he met the requirements.

"His last words were I'd rather resign than sign," Andresen told Reuters.

A petition launched by Andresen on Change.org, an Internet social change platform, calls on his troop to reject the Boy Scouts of America's discriminatory policy against homosexuals and give the California teenager his Eagle rank.

More than 200,000 people had signed the petition by late Friday.

Andresen said her son was staying with friends to avoid publicity, but plans to appear next week on the TV show "Ellen," which is hosted by comedian Ellen DeGeneres and often discusses homosexual-rights issues.

Andresen said Ryan had been victim of bullying in his troop, and chose as his final Eagle project to create at a local school what he called the "tolerance wall" - a collection of 288 tiles painted by elementary school students depicting acts of kindness.

Ryan surprised even his parents when he came out publicly as a homosexual in July in a mass letter to the troop in which he stood up for another scout who was bullied, Andresen said.

According to its website, the troop is sponsored by a local Presbyterian church and counts more than 75 active members aged 11 to 18. The scoutmaster, listed on the website as Rainer Del Valle, did not respond to an email from Reuters for comment.

Boy Scouts of America spokesman Deron Smith indicated in a statement that Andresen's Boy Scouts membership had been revoked.

"This scout proactively notified his unit leadership and Eagle Scout counselor that he does not agree to scouting's principle of "duty to God" and does not meet scouting's membership standard on sexual orientation," the statement said.

The Boy Scouts of America has come under public pressure on the issue since May when an Ohio homosexual, who was suddenly ejected from her troop, started a petition on Change.org for her reinstatement and an overhaul of the anti-homosexual policy.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Bad_Daddy

[Danno 1,228]

Your confusing Scoutmasters with Catholic Priests.

I don't necessarily agree with the scouts but if they want to have a club for training heterosexual young Men, then why should they not be able to.

If it was a club for the enrichment of any other group-- Black, Latino, Gay, disabled.. etc etc only it would be no problem.

Actually in both cases Priests and Scout masters, these aren't pedophiles seeking sex with little boys but most cases are the classic case of older man - seeking young man , say 14-17 year olds.

Peeps can deny the homosexual element if they want but PC is rarely based on the facts.

As for this story posted, I find it amusing how the Left so often gravitate towards social situations that the traditionalist provide and when they arrive the first thing they want to do is dismantle it, one step at a time.

We formerly spoke of priests and that is a great examples of this, a huge Leftist movement came into the Catholic church decades ago (the sitting Pope was part of it) but what has been the net result of all their "reforms".....

People left is droves so huge if predicted, it would never have been believed. Even those who "call" them selves Catholic today ....are not, so weak and confused are they that it is quite common even right here for them to sit by while people

malign and disrespect the "Bride of Christ", so pitiful are they that Danno is nearly the only voice which will challenge these attacks instead of those who call themselves Catholics.

So Bottom line- Libs if you know how to organize and run these social institutions so well go start your own and show us how it should be done instead of the parasitical drain you are on ours.

[decocker 7,198]

i was raised in a baptist church, with a 'straight', married with children deacon - who molested multiple young girls in our church, including me. not catholic - not gay - not involved in scouts.

either talk about child abusers/molesters or talk about homosexual civic volunteers/religious leaders - the two groups are not mutually exclusive.

[Danno 1,228]

i was raised in a baptist church, with a 'straight', married with children deacon - who molested multiple young girls in our church, including me. not catholic - not gay - not involved in scouts.

either talk about child abusers/molesters or talk about homosexual civic volunteers/religious leaders - the two groups are not mutually exclusive.

I guess in the same way a man or woman might gravitate to the local bar looking for a "person of interest", likewise the pedophile gravitates towards similar opportunities with children.

For this reason the utmost diligence must be taken to protect and identify persons who might be inclined towards this behavior.

The Boy scouts have recently come under fire for the mass of files they have accumulated over the years of the thousand (maybe tens of thousands) of persons they have had to watch because some allegation was made

or some suspicious activity was noted. To rely strictly on criminal records, would have been useless just a few decades ago and that would have only identified people charged. SO they kept their own files.

Even with this effort in place THe BSA have paid out many many millions of dollars in claims from boys and young men having been molested.

There is a darn good reason you don't send men off to camp with troop of girl scouts.

Edited October 8, 2012 by Danno