This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Boy Scouts of America proposes to end its ban on openly gay scouts but to continue to ban gay adults from serving as leaders.
So, are the Boy Scouts saying that it's OK to be a gay teen but not a gay man? That's ridiculous.
Maybe they're afraid of pedophiles? In that case, closeted gay men as leaders would be more a threat than an openly gay man who everyone would be watching. (Anyway, gay men are no more likely to be pedophiles than straight men.)
Maybe they don't want adult gay men to be role models for their impressionable young men. That's as bigoted as not wanting a black, a Jew or a Democrat to be a role model. Gays are here; get used to it.
The criteria should be the character of their soul, not the origin of their skin color or the orientation of their loves.
How will this policy help now-acceptable gay Scouts understand themselves? And how will it help straight Scouts learn to accept diversity and to not judge?
With gay marriage on a trajectory to mainstream America, the Boy Scouts are not preparing their charges to be good citizens.
John McFarland
Ogden