Should the Boy Scouts of America welcome gays to join its organization? Absolutely!!! That's not only MY opinion, but that of the President of the United States.
CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Scott Pelley asked President Barack Obama, in an interview on Sunday, February 3rd, 2013, if the Boy Scouts should permit homosexuals - who are openly gay - to become members. The President responded with a simple..."Yes."
Mr. Obama told Scott Pelley, "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 opportunities and leadership that will serve people for the rest of their lives. And I think nobody should be barred from that."
The debate of gays in the Boy Scouts has unfortunately been a controversial issue for many, many years and the organization's national leadership is debating this week whether to eliminate the ban on gay members. Executives of the scouting fraternity are also discussing to allow religious and civic groups that sponsor separate troops to decide how to address the matter of gay scouts.
However, on the other side of the fence, Texas Governor Rick Perry emphatically opposes any softening of the Boy Scouts' "no gays" membership policy. "The Lone Star State's" chief executive dismissed any thoughts of revising the Scouts' "conservative values."Perry is an Eagle Scout and the author of On My Honor: Why The American Values Of The Boy Scouts Of America Are Worth Fighting For. In the 2008 book, Perry explains why the Boy Scouts should continue to embrace the traditions and history of the 103-year old youth organization - including - excluding openly gay members and leaders. Perry feels "to have popular culture impact 100 years of their standards is inappropriate."
Meanwhile, Fred Sainz of the national gay rights group, The Human Rights Campaign says, "It's a shame that Governor Perry has chosen to be on the wrong side of history. Governor Perry and the Boy Scouts are both completely out of touch with where America is going on this issue. There should be one national non-discrimination policy. We can't quite wrap our heads around why that is so difficult to do in 2013."
It's tragic that in 2013 there continues to be - by some people - the bigotry and prejudices towards gays, African-Americans, Jews, Hispanics and other minorities. We in the United States have thankfully and luckily elected - twice - a black president. And just as it was about time that we did that - we will someday elect a Jewish president, a Hispanic president and yes... whether some of you believe it or not...we will someday elect - a gay president.
There are numerous actors and other celebrities who have "come out" about being gay. There are gay politicians, gay doctors, gay lawyers, gay teachers, gay firefighters, and gay people fighting for our country as members of our armed forces. There are gays, bisexuals and lesbians everywhere in this country and everywhere in this world. And there ARE gay Boy Scouts.
Homosexual Boy Scouts deserve to be open with their sexuality...and they deserve the same rights and opportunities - provided by the U.S. Constitution - for every other male youngster and male adult.
It boggles my mind that some ignorant people still believe that homosexuals think of nothing but sex. There are organizations that include boys and girls, and men and women, and not everyone of them is jumping in to bed with each other. Homosexuality is not about having sex; just as heterosexuality is not about having sex. Homosexuality is about the sexual attraction that one person of the same gender has for another.
Boys and girls go to school together everyday and a straight teenage boy can sit in a classroom and think about the girl - or girls - he wants to "hook up" with. But not everyone does. And when they do...it's almost always consensual. The same applies for gay teenage boys.
Now don't go getting all huffy with me - I am not condoning that every teenager has to have sex. That's not what I'm talking about. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published it's National Health Statistics Reports on August 16th, 2012; and in that report the CDC stated that almost half of high school students are having sex of one form or another. The CDC wrote, "Among teen and adolescent girls ages 15 to 19, rates were similar between those who had vaginal intercourse (47 percent) and those who had oral sex (48 percent) with a member of the opposite sex. For teen males, 44 percent said they had vaginal intercourse, and 49 percent reported oral sex."
Other statistics from poll after poll and survey after survey...prove that teenagers will find a way to have sex if they want to...and many are going to have sex...whether they're told "no" by the adults in their lives. And if a gay teenage boy - who just happens to be a Boy Scout - wants to have sex - he's not going to do it with a Scout who is straight. By the time a teenage boy reaches an age where he wants to be with another person in a sexual encounter - he knows whether he wants to do it with a girl...or with another boy.
And for those of you who wrongfully assume that a gay Boy Scout is going to attack a straight Scout who is sleeping in the tent with him - there is no truth whatsoever to that kind of bogus scuttlebutt. After all, violent sex - rape - whether towards a female - or towards a male - has nothing to do with being straight or gay. Sexual violence and abuse are about power, domination and control. It's not about sexual attraction.
In a world where television, radio, newspapers and magazines have provided us with everything from mainstream news stories to tabloid gossip - and in recent years with the Internet - where we can read about everything - whether true or false - I just have one more very important point to make - followed by two equally important questions.
Gays have been members of the Boy Scouts for years and years - probably since the organization was founded in 1910. Certain Americans may not have known it, but based on percentages, there's no doubt of that fact. For those of you who - for your own unthinkable reasons - believe that gay teenage boys - even gay men - are sex addicts who cannot control themselves in a tent, cabin or out in the woods - here are the two questions for you to ponder. When was the last time you heard of a Boy Scout hopping from sleeping bag to sleeping bag? And...have you EVER heard...of sexual molestation between tent mates during a Boy Scout campout? Believe me...with a planet filled with every means of communication available - we'd know - if anything of the sort - had happened.
It is truly a shame that in 2013 there are still bigots and haters who won't open their eyes, open their minds and open their hearts to gay men and women, and gay boys and girls.
Heterosexuals didn't choose to be straight...and homosexuals didn't choose to be gay. It's just what they are; it's what God made them.
America is a land of equal rights. And the Boy Scouts...should join the club.
And that's The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
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