hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Boy Scouts to admit gay members starting January 1
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Boy Scouts to admit gay members starting January 1
The Boy Scouts of America have relaxed their strict admittance policy to allow homosexual boys to become Scouts, but the decision has not been accepted openly by everyone.
The historic change in policy will go into effect January 1, 2014, after a 60 percent approval vote that occurred in May 2013. Despite allowing openly gay Scouts, the BSA still will exclude homosexuals from holding leader positions. The policy officially allows homosexuals to be admitted into the Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and the coed Venturers program, but there are limitations. No openly gay Scouts can participate in gay pride parades while wearing their uniforms, for example. The BSA policy also states that "while a youth member may acknowledge his or her sexual preference, that acknowledgment may not reach the level of distraction, which may include advocacy, promotion, or the distribution of information of a sexual nature." The controversial decision has been met with a considerable backlash, but the BSA hopes that the January 1 deadline passes without incident. "My hope is there will be the same effect this Jan. 1 as the Y2K scare," said Brad Haddock, a BSA national executive board member. "It's business as usual, nothing happens and we move forward." The BSA receives 70 percent of its funding from religious organizations, and many churches have banned Scout troops that allow gay Scouts from meeting on their property. However, the BSA reports that their financial support has not seen a significant drop. There have been members who have pulled their children out of Scouts due to the policy change. Aaron Butler, the leader of his 8-year-old son's Cub Scout Wolf Den in Roseau, MN, took his son out of the den and resigned his leadership due to the policy change. "It was a big disappointment ... he cried for about 10 minutes because I told him that the Boy Scouts were not honoring their own law," Butler told NBC News. "If the BSA cannot honor their own law, then how can I stay with an organization that just does not care anymore?" The decision did not get overlooked by the Obama administration, as President Obama called for the policy change as far back as Super Bowl Sunday of 2013. In the interview he gave before the game, Obama said, "My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does, in every institution and walk of life. The Scouts are a great institution that are promoting young people and exposing them to, you know, opportunities and leadership that will serve people for the rest of their lives, and I think that nobody should be barred (from) that."
hollywoodtone.blogspot.com Boy Scouts to admit gay members starting January 1