A Scout Is ... Queer?

Well, you won't find it among the characteristics listed on the Scout Law. But, yeah, in my case a scout is queer.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from the National Eagle Scout Association. (Yes, I'm an Eagle Scout.) I either ignored it or forgot about. But they didn't forget about me. I got this in my inbox again, this weekend.

Do you have fond memories of all those camping trips on your Trail to Eagle? Or do you ever wonder where the other Eagles from your troop are now? Have you considered how being an Eagle Scout shapes your life even today?

The National Eagle Scout Association recently authorized the National Eagle Scout Search Project which will culminate in the publication of the Eagle Scout Roll of Honor. Roll of Honor will be the first-ever registration and publication of its kind - capturing nearly 100 years of Eagle Scout history, tradition, service and achievement.

Oh geez. Now I've got a dilemma.

See, the Boy Scouts aren't all that keen on queers.

On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 in favor of the Boy Scouts of America having the constitutional right to exclude gay people. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist interpreted the First Amendment's protection of the freedom of association to mean that the Supreme Court could not force one of America's most treasured institutions "to accept members where such acceptance would derogate from the organization's expressive message," thus overturning last year's New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that the Scouts had violated the state law banning anti-gay discrimination.

The Dale of Boy Scouts of America vs. Dale, No. 99-699 is a 30-year-old advertising director of POZ magazine and a one-time assistant scoutmaster of the Boy Scouts. I befriended James Dale in 1988 during our freshman year at Rutgers, where we were both drawn to the State University of New Jersey for more than just the classes. With its liberal reputation, and proximity to New York City, Rutgers promised to be a comfortable environment for people like us to come out.

But several months after Dale appeared in the pages of Newark's Star-Ledger as one of the most visible members of the university's Gay and Lesbian Alliance in 1990, he received two letters -- one from the Monmouth Council of Boy Scouts, the other from the district council -- informing him that "avowed homosexuals" were not permitted in the organization, and that his 12-year membership was being revoked.

They say so right on their legal issues website.

• Volunteer Adult Leadership
  Boy Scouts of America believes that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the obligations in the Scout Oath and Law to be morally straight and clean in thought, word, and deed. Scouting's moral position with respect to homosexual conduct accords with the moral positions of many millions of Americans and with religious denominations to which a majority of Americans belong. Because of these views concerning the morality of homosexual conduct, Boy Scouts of America believes that a known or avowed homosexual is not an appropriate role model of the Scout Oath and Law for adolescent boys.


• Employment
  With respect to positions limited to professional Scouters or, because of their close relationship to the mission of Scouting, positions limited to registered members of the Boy Scouts of America, acceptance of the Declaration of Religious Principle, the Scout Oath, and the Scout Law is required. Accordingly, in the exercise of its constitutional right to bring the values of Scouting to youth members, Boy Scouts of America will not employ atheists, agnostics, known or avowed homosexuals, or others as professional Scouters or in other capacities in which such employment would tend to interfere with its mission of reinforcing the values of the Scout Oath and the Scout Law in young people.


• Youth Leadership
  Boy Scouts of America believes that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the obligations in the Scout Oath and Scout Law to be morally straight and clean in thought, word, and deed. The conduct of youth members must be in compliance with the Scout Oath and Law, and membership in Boy Scouts of America is contingent upon the willingness to accept Scouting's values and beliefs. Most boys join Scouting when they are 10 or 11 years old. As they continue in the program, all Scouts are expected to take leadership positions. In the unlikely event that an older boy were to hold himself out as homosexual, he would not be able to continue in a youth leadership position.

In the time I was an active Boy Scout, I served as a Patrol Leader, Senior Patrol Leader, and (briefly, before going off to college) Junior Assistant Scoutmaster. I was out by then, to myself and to most of my classmates at school. But not to the Scouts (even though I'm sure most of the guys in my troop knew). I knew what the official response would be. Plus, my Dad was the assistant scoutmaster, whom I once heard say "A boy who doesn't want to be in scouting shouldn't be in scouting," only to forbid me to quit when I told him I wanted to. (The cognitive dissonance was starting to become suffocating.)

For what it's worth, I picked up some leadership experience during that time. It came in handy in college, when I was co-director of the LGBT student group, and when we successfully lobbied the University Council to pass a non-discrimination policy concerning sexual orientation for work and study at the university.

But the Boy Scouts and the National Eagle Scout Association probably don't want to hear about that. They don't want to hear, really, anything about the life I've manage to build for myself. (Which is a pretty damn good one, if I do say so myself.) I guess that's because according to them, I can't be queer and be "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful , thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent." It screws with their framing. So, I couldn't be queer and be a scout.

(And because of their policy, it's unlikely either of our sons will be a Boy Scout, for obvious reasons.)

But I was. And I am. An Eagle Scout even.

Now the National Eagle Scout Association wants to include me in their directory. They want me to call them so they can "verify" my information. Will they ask if I'm married? If I have kids? Probably.

So, what should I do?

• Ignore their request.
• Call them, see what kind of questions they ask, answer honestly, and see what happens.
• Contact them that due to their discriminatory policy I will not be participating, and would like to be removed from their email list, etc.

I'm honestly not sure.

Any other queer Scouts or Eagle Scouts out there? How'd you guys handle this?

Comments

[sabretooth]

I got the same contact re gathering the list. I contacted the number, verified my information . . . and then when the rep asked me if I would buy the book or make a donation, I said "no." I told him that as long as the Scouts had a policy of institutional discrimination that I would not spend a penny on any endeavor, that I would not donate, and that my son would never be a member.

I am a 52 year old straight Eagle Scout. Every encounter that I have with anyone related to scouting I take as an opportunity to explain that I'm an Eagle, that I am vehemently opposed to the discriminatory policies in place, and that they are antithetical to the fundamental values that I remember.

My son will learn camping and outdoor skills in a less formal manner.

cheers,

[deaconforever]

Terrance:

You should read the biography of Dr. Alfred Kinsey by Johathan Gathorne-Hardy entitled "Sex the Measure of All Things: A Life of Alfred Kinsey." Of course, Kinsey was the great sex researcher and author at Indiana University - and one of the first Eagle Scouts in the BSA. He earned the rank as a Boy Scout in South Orange, New Jersey, in the early 1910s. (See page 18 in the book.)

Gathorne-Hardy's view "is that Kinsey and his team [at Indiana University], to their eternal credit, were one of the decisive factors in enabling homosexuals to win a measure of tolerance." So, an Eagle Scout was "decisive" in the recognition of gays as complete human beings - a great Boy Scout accomplishment!

For goodness sake, call the number and have yourself listed. You ARE, at least, the equal of anyone who has been a Boy Scout.

[westbrooks01]

Terrance:

I am an Eagle Scout, and I am gay.

I received the mailer, as well, and I was excited to answer it. I was disappointed that it was a clever sales pitch. Once all of the personal questions [including my marital status] were answered, then I was asked if I wanted to purchase the one-time-only, offer. I answered that I was "single", because it is truly the closest to my current situation.

I, too, struggle with reconciling my Scouting experience and my homosexuality and my involvement in Scouting in the future. Another question they asked, is if I will be involved in Scouting in the future, I answered "no". The salesperson didn't follow up.

I draw on my Scouting experience, everyday. I would not be a law school graduate and moving forward in life, without the amazing lessons and experiences I gained from Scouting. That includes drawing on my Scouting experiences for lessons on how to come to terms with my homosexuality.

For the sake of argument, I don't think my Scouting experience would have been enhanced by allowing openly homosexual males into Scouting. I'll take the slippery slope argument in that, where do we stop? Does sexual education become part of the Scouting experience? The sexuality merit badge, perhaps?

Congrats to you, and all other gay Eagle Scouts. I think it'd be cool to start a Yahoo group for us to communicate. And I will not hesitate to give the BSA money in the future.

Tony

[marignymitch]

Mr Heath:

Thanks for writing. I'm gay and an Eagle Scout too.

I haven't been contacted by this organization but in the unlikely event that it does get in touch I'll take the opportuntity to tell them that, because of BSA's ugly discriminatory policies, I no longer support the organization, morally or financially. Scouting was delightful back in the day (the late 1950s and early 1960s) , but I'm grateful that at the time I was blissfully ignorant of BSA's sexual agenda. I thought the word 'straight' in the Scout oath meant 'honest'. After all, I was just a kid, ya know.

I like the wisdom of the Girl Scouts, whose leaders obviously are more secure in their sexuality than the BSA dudes. The sexual orientation of GSA members is a nonissue, as it should be everywhere in a liberal society. Bless 'em.

[BlackJAC]

Although I am neither gay nor an Eagle Scout (high school's homework load resulted in me dropping out after making First Class), I say ignore it.

[ACGrant]

I've been getting those mailers, too, thanks to the lifetime NESA membership my parents bought for me when I reached the Eagle rank back in '86. I had hoped to stay involved in scouting and encourage my sons to join when they're old enough, but the BSA's inflexible and intolerant attitude on this issue has put me in a quandary; either to get involved and try to change things from the inside, since I'm apparently acceptable adult leader material as a "morally straight" male, or to refuse to support the organization in any way. At this point, I've settled on the latter. I believe the BSA should be about helping boys grow into honorable, civic-minded young men, and that result is not dependent on the scouts or their leaders holding to a particular interpretation of a particular religion's view of sexual morality.

[LittleBrother]

Don't ask, don't tell!

[unitron]

The first thing you need to do is find out if this outfit is actually a part of the BSA, cause it sounds to me like it's just a scam to get former Eagle Scouts to buy a list of former Eagle Scouts and to put together a database that can be sold or rented to other direct mail and tele-marketers. Nowadays, of course, it could be the aforementioned *and* a part of the BSA.

[sssemester]

It's both. It's like $99 (at least for the Midwestern regional Roll of Honor -- apparently there will be several editions) and that includes the publication AND I think a couple years' worth of NESA membership. Of course, another way to invest that hundred bucks might be to support Scouting For All, http://www.scoutingforall.org. I'm a member of both NESA and Scouting For All.

I honestly don't know how effective Scouting For All is, but it seems to me that the best way for it to have a positive impact would be for higher-ranking Scouts and Scouters (which you, as an Eagle, are) and people of prominence (which you, as a HuffPost blogger, are) and fathers of prospective Scouts (which you are) to join and take a stand against the BSA's ignorant policies.