Boy Scouts of America National Headquarters, Irving, Texas.
Blerg… as a former Boy Scout, myself, Thursday’s news that the Boy Scouts of America had lifted their ages-old ban on “openly gay” scouts left me with a combination of feelings ranging from “meh” to “Fuck the Boy Scouts!”
The other side of the coin is that Scout Leaders who are “openly gay” are still forbidden from holding posts.
The problem here isn’t the “gay” part, frankly. It’s the “openly” part. Because the Boy Scouts are arguably a paramilitary organization with overt religious teachings built in, they MUST have known that there have been gay scouts since day one – and that it must be drubbed out of any scout before it becomes noticeable. Scouts are taught to function as a cohesive unit, and individuality is shaped to fit the group… Two of my least favorite quotes from my troop leader during my own Scouting days were: 1) What can I do for the troop? 2) How does this help the troop? every time any sort of individualism or “different-ness” began to appear.
The notions of “honor” and “integrity” espoused by the Boy Scouts are amorphous, at best, as they are presented from the national council to the local troops who utilize these guidelines to interpret that as they see fit. In communities where religious teachings take the lead over patriotism (read: right-leaning), it’s almost guaranteed that being gay is a violation of that ill-defined “honor” code. Thus far, there are no bans on racism, misogyny or general assholery.
From my own days as a lowly Bobcat Cub Scout until my adolescent self decided I was done with the Boy Scouts, then a Scout First Class, I knew I was gay, and frankly if the question had ever been asked of me, I’m sure I would have denied it fervently – after all, what else would a 14 year old in the middle of the country have said in the scout meeting held in the basement of a Catholic church? Would I say yes? Sure, and open a torrent of bullying and psychological torment that would last until I was a bona fide Eagle Scout – the long-term merit of such an achievement is still questionable.
What the Scouts did yesterday was a strategic public relations maneuver – nothing more. As long as there can be no encouraging and open gay adult role models in the organization, their tacit “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy will remain.
There will always be gay Boy Scouts, as there always has been. Hopefully, though, this will be the beginning of a longer conversation about being “open” everywhere. After all, once you’ve said you’re gay, the “open” part becomes redundant.
But I’ll say this for the scouts, I learned two very useful things while I was earning merit badges – how to make a fire pretty much anywhere, and how to French kiss a boy. But, MY scouting experience was VERY individual – whether they wanted it to be, or not.
