This morning came the unfortunate news that after a confidential two-year review, the Boy Scouts of America has emphatically reaffirmed its policy of excluding both gay youth and gay troop leaders.
The Boy Scouts’ chief executive, Bob Mazzuca, defended the policy, contending that most Scout families support the policy: “The vast majority of the parents of youth we serve value their right to address issues of same-sex orientation within their family, with spiritual advisers and at the appropriate time and in the right setting,” Mazzuca told ABC. “We fully understand that no single policy will accommodate the many diverse views among our membership or society.”
Since at least 2000, the Boy Scouts have been targeted with numerous protest campaigns and run afoul of several local nondiscrimination laws because of its long-standing membership policy, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2000 in a 5-4 decision and has remained hotly contested ever since.
One of the most well-known protest campaigns highlighted the discrimination faced by Jennifer Tyrrell, an Ohio mother of a 7-year-old Cub Scout who was unceremoniously ousted as a Scout den mother because of her sexual preference.
In an eloquent petition letter, Tyrrell detailed her work as a den mother and called for an end to blatant discrimination in an organization that has an enormous influence on the lives of many children, especially those living outside of major urban areas.
Join more than 300,000 fellow concerned citizens who have added their name to Tyrrell’s call. The petition is meant to be delivered to the Scouts’ national headquarters in Irving, Texas, this week, so don’t delay. After you’ve weighed in, share this post with tour friends, family and Facebook and Twitter communities.
