Boy Scouts' Face Increased Pressure Over 'No Gay' Rule

This summer the Boy Scouts of America reaffirmed its longtime policy barring openly gay scouts and leaders. The BSA says that after two years of review, an 11-member subcommittee reached a unanimous decision to uphold the exclusionary practice.

The national scouting organization's leaders have been claiming, ever since a controversial Supreme Court decision in 2000. BSA has been maintaining, in the face of pressure from liberal organizations, LGBT groups, churches and some local governments, that its "no gay" rule for scouts and scout leaders receives broad support among the individual scout troops.

Despite the supposed findings by BSA leaders, it is becoming more and more apparent that more and more of the rank-and-file don't like the policy and are openly defying it.

The BSA is especially alarmed at some of the Boy Scouts' major corporate supporters that are also joining in the ongoing protest. News stories periodically erupt about Gay Eagle Scouts and their straight allies ceremoniously returning their badges. The movement has grown by the hundreds.

Opponents of the ban believe that the policy is discriminatory and contradicts the fundamental principles of scouting. For its part, BSA has continued what some see as a witch hunt to enforce its anti-gay policy. Out scout leaders have been thrown out of the organization.

A Policy in Peril

Many local Boy Scout councils are protesting prejudice not through words but also deeds. They are filing petitions for change. But they're also quietly allowing out-gay scouts and adult leaders.

The recent backlash, led in large part by non-gay scout leaders, indicates that the BSA may not be able to maintain its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"-style policy much longer.

How long before it is eliminated?

"I think it's a matter of time," said Rich Ferraro, a spokesperson for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination. The anti-defamation group has become a major player in campaigns to change Boy Scout policy.

"The policy sends a message to these kids that who you are is not good enough," Ferraro noted. "Who you are is not worthy of being a scout. That's a dangerous message to be sending when bullying is at an all-time high, and as we read stories about young people -- especially LGBT young people -- taking their own lives."

If the Supreme Court's June 2000 decision in Boy Scouts of America et al v. Dale upheld the right of the BSA to exclude gays from its ranks, culturally the landscape has shifted in the ensuing decade. This summer both President Barak Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney found common agreement on at least one thing: Both publicly stated opposition to the BSA policy.

Hitting BSA Where It Counts, in the Pocketbook

James Turley, chairman and CEO of Ernst & Young, and Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T, are among BSA executive board members who have spoken out against the policy. The BSA policy has already significantly affected its coffers.

Recently, board members of United Way of the Capital Region, the Central Pennsylvania chapter of the national nonprofit United Way, unanimously voted in August not to renew a partnership with a local Boy Scouts chapter beyond early 2013. Last year, the chapter received over $89,000 from UWCR.

"The undesignated money United Way distributes through its citizen review process is meant to serve all segments of our community," UWCR President Joseph Capita, a former Boy Scout, told Pennsylvania newspaper The Sentinel. "By deciding not to service a portion of our community, the Boy Scouts are in conflict with United Way's policies, which ensure access to programs and services."

As public opinion continues to favor inclusion, it's likely that the Boy Scouts will continue to lose donations and members. Membership is already down 20 percent since 1999, the year preceding the Supreme Court decision.

"At some point, they'll bite the bullet. The marginal cost [of maintaining the anti-gay policy] will become greater than the marginal benefit, in purely economic terms," said Zach Wahls, a young activist who became a YouTube sensation when he addressed the Iowa House Judiciary Committee on a proposed state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. Wahl's impassioned, eloquent statements about growing up with two moms not only went viral, it turned the former Eagle Scout, now 21, into one of the best-known opponents of the BSA.

Wahls co-founded Scouts for Equality, an organization that has solicited nearly half-a-million petition signatures on scout-related initiatives, including one that urge the BSA to allow its executive board to vote on the ban. The group mobilizes local councils to take a stand. Wahls has said he hopes to make the BSA understand that changing its stance would not just, at this point, be pragmatic; it's also the only moral decision to made.

"It's a question of principle," Wahls said. "The BSA is not supposed to be about political calculus. It's about teaching young men the importance of making hard decisions and doing the right thing. But at the same time, that's what they are refusing to do."

Through Scouts for Equality, Wahls has been in contact with Boy Scout councils in nearly every corner of the country who are willing to take a stand against the BSA position on excluding gay scouts. Few however, are willing to go public.

While they promote inclusion within their ranks, they'd rather not draw the attention of the National Council. Still, a few councils and individuals have not been afraid to speak out publicly.

In August, Cub Scout Pack 79 in Marblehead, Mass., gave its local newspaper a "Policy of Acceptance." The bold refutation against BSA policy pointedly stated the "Pack 79 will provide membership to all boys and parents in the Marblehead community without regard to sexual orientation."

Also this summer, the Northern Star Council, Minnesota's largest scout council, reiterated a longstanding position that supports gay troops.
The Piedmont Council in California's Troop 203 website states unequivocally that "we disagree with National BSA policy against gay participation. Within Troop 203, the national policy is irrelevant."

"We're a reflection of our community," spokesman Kent York told the Minneapolis StarTribune. "Our commitment has been to reach out to all young people and have a positive influence."

Thus inspired, councils in Vermont, Connecticut and Western Massachusetts have suggested they practice inclusion. The BSA, however, officially does not allow local councils to depart from national policy, and can revoke a charter if they do.

Eagles, Den Mothers Resign
Newspapers across the country are filled with stories of local Eagle Scouts returning their badges. Eaglebadges.tumblr.com, a Seattle-based website, collects letters written to the BSA by angry Scouts and posts photos of them renouncing their medals.

Karin Weldon is among the many Boy Scouts den mother who have resigned. The Brookline, Mass., resident started a Change.org petition asking Massachusetts scouting councils to publicly repudiate the anti-gay BSA policy after quitting in August.

Philadelphia Loses, But Eventually So Will BSA

In August, selectmen (that is, members of the City Council) in West Newbury, Mass., began considering a proposal that would prevent groups that discriminate from using town facilities. This would specifically impact the local scouts troop, which holds meetings in the town's parks and recreation building.

Selectmen cited similar anti-discrimination bylaws previously adopted by the town. "No one should be allowed to discriminate and use public facilities," said Selectman Glenn Kemper, who proposed the ban. "That means taxpayers are subsidizing their discriminatory actions, and I don't think that's fair."

Can, however, such a ban stand up in court? In the most-publicized case, a federal jury ruled in 2010 that Philadelphia could evict the Boy Scouts from a city-owned building. The judge in the case ordered the city to pay the council nearly $900,000 in legal costs. The city is currently appealing the judgment and fees.

The backlash against the BSA, however, is tangible, it's growing, and it's making a venerable organization look increasingly out of touch. Other national youth groups such as Camp Fire Girls and the 4-H Club, have adopted LGBT inclusive policies. Most damningly, the Girl Scouts of the USA has lesbian scouts, troop leaders and personnel. Last year, amid some controversy, it welcomed a transgender girl to its ranks. The Girl Scouts has no formal affiliation to the BSA.

Meanwhile, the Boy Scouts is continuing its vendetta.

In August, Tim Griffin, an Eagle Scout in Sacramento, Calif., claimed he was fired from his longtime job at a Boy Scout camp because he was gay. In an email to Reuters, the BSA stated Griffin's dismissal was not related to his sexuality, although it did not indicate an alternative reason.

Ten employees from the camp, including its program director, subsequently resigned in protest. A petition requesting his reinstatement has received 70,000 signatures.

Also in August, Kentucky scoutmaster Greg Bourke was forced out of his son's troop after he disclosed his sexuality to Boy Scout executives in protest of the BSA policy. Though Bourke initially resisted demands to resign, he relinquished his role when he learned a local church might lose its scouting charter if he stayed. Bourke remains a leader in his daughter's Girl Scout troop.

In the most publicized case, in April, Jennifer Tyrrell, an Ohio mome bringing up her kids with her partner, was forced out of her role as a den leader in her own son's troop, because someone told the regional council about her sexual orientation -- even though it was hardly a secret in the small town. Tyrrell's groundswell of support included David J. Sims, a board member of the Ohio River Valley Council, who resigned.

Tyrrell has since delivered a petition with over 300,000 signatures to BSA headquarters in Irving, Texas. Her visibility has turned her into an activist. She has spoken before several groups and has appeared at Pride events. She also inspired singer Kat Graham to plead her case on "The Ellen Show."

While it turned its back on years of sex abuse, the BSA has been relentless in its pursuit of otherwise-blameless individuals. But the policy has had the opposite of its intended effect: Rather than squealching dissent, it has sparked a national conversation about the battles gay youth face for the most basic acceptance.

"The Scouts repeatedly say that the organization is not a place where sexual orientation should be discussed," says GLAAD's Ferraro. "In Jennifer's Ohio town, people rallied around her. When she started working with the kids in her scout den, they never had reason to talk about sexuality; it wasn't until they had to ask, 'Why can't Jennifer return?'"

"The Boy Scouts think they're 'protecting' kids from discussion. Really, they're the ones opening it up."