Boy Scouts decision – a win for the LGBT community?

If you’ve been following the news, you probably heard that the Boy Scouts decided to allow gay children into the organization. Yay, right?

It’s still not enough for me to let my boys join.

The Boy Scouts of America still won’t let openly gay adults serve as leaders/volunteers. While the BSA say it’s because it wasn’t under consideration (they were only deciding about children)- I’m going to say that’s just a line fed by PR.

Why? There is no reason that they couldn’t have or wouldn’t have debated the situation in order to make the Boy Scouts of America all-inclusive- making the decision for members should have led to a discussion about leadership. I applaud them for providing an environment where boys who are out can feel comfortable, but I’m not sure how much it means if gay adults aren’t there as well. And I applaud them for standing up to the groups that were speaking in favor of keeping openly gay children out. Doing the right thing can be tough, but I still think they have further to go to live up to what the Boy Scouts are supposed to stand for.

We still live in a world where people commonly assume that homosexuality is linked to pedophilia- and don’t tell me it isn’t true. If you hear about a gay priest, immediately people will start wondering whether or not they’re a danger to children in the church. No, really.

Not to mention that it’s a pretty odd message to send to teens in the Boy Scouts. Congrats, you’re gay and you are accepted as a Boy Scout. But grow up? You can’t continue to help us as a leader or volunteer.

Sexual orientation has nothing to do with being a role model for the youth of tomorrow. So I think I’ll hold off on throwing the BSA a parade until adults are welcome, too. Maybe I’ll send cookies.