Written: 7/27/2012

A lot more has happened, and as I said before, keeping the BSA in the public eye and keeping the conversation going is what is going to force change.

A few years ago, there was a rash of schools not allowing LGBT youth from bringing same-sex dates to proms and other dances.  They kept stating they didn’t want to cause a distraction.  Well, the distraction they kept getting from public outcry was huge, and finally most caved to that pressure (along with the help from the ACLU).

The Post-Gazette published an editorial, although it was fairly tame, actually.  The same with Rob Rogers, while it was appreciated, I’ve seen him swing for the fences before and this seemed not as impassioned.

Major League Soccer has dissolved the partnership with the BSA, which lasted only a year, and one that came under scrutiny before, because of the BSA’s discrimination.

Joe My God links to this graphic from GLAAD:

And Boing Boing has an amazing roundup of returned Eagle Awards and letters send to the national board.  The post keeps getting updated with more and more returned awards.

The returned awards really has an impact, maybe not as much as we hope, but it has a lot of people talking, which is a good thing.  Camp staff members and other employees are talking about the issue more than I’ve ever heard before.  And while it seems that some people who I thought would be allies, have turned out to be more bigoted than I imagined they could be, the opposite is also true.

I like to think that when I eventually leave and come out, or the the policy changes and I can come out, I can change some of their minds when they look back and realize that nothing is different.  It makes me sad, it really does, thinking that I might lose some of my friends, but then maybe I wouldn’t really want them around anyway if they didn’t accept me.

I have to take a break from writing about it every now and then (hence the post about Chick-Fil-A), just to keep my sanity, but I’ll be back at it again.

I’ll be back with my next issue with some writing about camp, which is always tough for me, but it’s needed.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 7/21/2012

A lot has happened lately, I was going to try to split it up between a bunch of various posts, but I think it will make more sense together.  So here we go.

So, Zach Wahls was working with the BSA, and he was told that the national board would be looking at the policy and would be releasing a statement at next year’s annual meeting.  Many people thought this was just a smoke screen, hoping that the public would forget about it in a year.  I feel as though it was genuine, and from the national spokesman, it seemed true.

Now, it comes out that there was a “two-year study” that concluded that the ban should stay in place.

So first, let’s look at the three possible situations about the formation of the committee:

• The national spokesman knew about the committee and its study and chose to lie about it when discussing Zach Wahls and his petition.
• The committee was formed and was meeting, but the spokesman had no knowledge of it
• The committee did not exist, at least not in the way presented

Honestly, the second issue is the most plausible.  And this is me being a communicator talking.  Companies are notorious for keeping the communication departments “away from the table” and in the dark, and the BSA is not the greatest when it comes to communication (granted, we’re getting better internally, but it’s still a mess, I cry each time I have to try to find something on our intranet).  So I think this is what happened, although I think there is some truth in the third possibility as well.

There are rumors that the committee that is referenced is nothing current and in fact is a recycled news story.  Which of course, begs the question, why would they release that news?

All it did was continue to keep the spotlight on the BSA and their discriminatory policies, as well as kick off a slew of protests and continuing coverage.

AmericaBlog brings up the point that from this statement from Mazucca, Cheif Scout Executive:

The vast majority of the parents of youth we servevalue 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 said. “We fully understand that no single policy will accommodate the many diverse views among our membership or society.

The feeling apparently is that if we don’t talk about something, it will go away.  We’ve seen that that is wrong, and secondly, we’re talking about people.  You can’t bury your head in the sand and wish the LGBT community away.  We’re real people who deserve he basic respect of being recognized.

Also, the 11-person committee, is said to have come from diverse backgrounds, a mix of Scout Executives and volunteers, yet still came to a unanimous decision.  I find it hard to believe that a “diverse” group found this in a unanimous decision.

Let’s also make sure that we ignore the normal ass-hatery that comes out of the woodwork (currently the LGBT community, as well as feminists, pro-choices, liberals and probably all kinds of others are being blamed for the Batman shooting in Colorado), so when the head of the “American Family Association,” Bryan Fisher says that the BSA contacted him, I guess I just can’t believe it.

And in protest, at least two straight Eagle Scouts have sent back their medals, with accompanying letter, and have been floating around the internet, one of which has blown up on Facebook.  The LA Times wrote an editorial scolding the BSA, and the writers at HuffPo came to the attack, stating that the BSA feels gay kids don’t measure up, pointedly looking at the affect this policy has on LGBT youth.   And one of my favorite sites, The Good Men project, makes sure that we know the leaders of the BSA are not good men.

Even BuzzFeed was getting in on the action, posting this amazing tweet:

Also at the same time, being filmed as part of a documentary, a camp counselor comes out to his camp director (presumable a professional Scouter) and is fired.

That is hitting close to home, I always make sure that the LGBT members of the camp staff feel as welcome as they can be.  And I”m sure there are more that I’m unaware of, I strive to make sure it’s as welcoming as it possibly can be, and I think that that has paid off and helped to create an environment of tolerance.  It’s one thing that I can do, but it’s a real difference that I can make.

I think holding the BSA in the spotlight is going to help change this policy, especially since the incoming president of the national board, the president of AT&T is publicly opposed to the ban (which, by the way, when was that announced, I missed it).  It worked for DADT, I hope that we can keep the public’s attention long enough for it to work for the BSA.

Update: Here’s a video blog I just stumbled upon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cVVKv6qqPA

A little over the top and viscous at some points, but he’s very well spoken.

All my best,

The King of Spades

Written: 6/23/2012

I’ve been away at camp, and a lot has happened on the national stage for the BSA.

First up, Zach Wahls delivered over 275,000 signatures opposing the BSA’s ban on LGBT members, which put in motion a policy review:

BSA spokesman Deron Smith said Wednesday it would be referred to a subcommittee, which will then make a recommendation to the national executive board. The process would likely be completed by May 2013, according to Smith, who said there were no plans at this time to change the policy.

Said Wahls:

“As both an Eagle Scout with a personal investment in the success of the Boy Scouts of America and as the son of a lesbian couple, it means a lot to see this change finally set in motion,” added Wahls.

It’s easy to think that this will go nowhere, to think that the BSA will just hope that no one will remember in a year.  However, from what I know about the local level (and we’re one of the largest councils in the country, so I think there is a lot of correlation), the decisions made in subcommittees are almost always ratified by the Board.

It’s not a smokescreen. This proposal was made after Jen Tyrrell’s pettion on Change.org. So even though this has been brought up in the past, it’s never gotten nearly the level of attention that it has today. And as another departure from the past, there’s never been a group — which I actually launched in coordination with a number of other Eagle Scouts today called Scouts For Equality — and we’re going to be working with a number of different groups to really build a community of scouts — Eagle scouts, former scout leaders, that sort of thing — we’re really going to work toward making this policy change.

Wahls talks about Scouts of Equality here:

I’ve been tearing up reading some of the stories on the site, it’s amazing reading those, and heartening as well, knowing that there are so many other people like me, and so many allies, out there.

But the biggest movement, I think, came in a statement from one of the national board members:

“Ernst & Young is proud to have such a strong record in LGBT inclusiveness. As CEO, I know that having an inclusive culture produces the best results, is the right thing for our people and makes us a better organization. My experience has led me to believe that an inclusive environment is important throughout our society and I am proud to be a leader on this issue. I support the meaningful work of the Boy Scouts in preparing young people for adventure, leadership, learning and service, however the membership policy is not one I would personally endorse. As I have done in leading Ernst & Young to being a most inclusive organization, I intend to continue to work from within the BSA Board to actively encourage dialogue and sustainable progress.”

Just like our council, if the national board gets enough pressure from inside itself, the change will happen.  I think that the biggest linchpin is going to be Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T and also a National Board Member.  AT&T is incredibly important to the BSA, especially with the new Bechtel Summit in West Virginia.  And I think that his call for equality would cause the rest of the board to follow.

Will it happen?  I can only hope so.  Until then, I will keep on, searching for new employment, but also trying to ensure that at least in the camping program, we are as kind, equal and open to everyone as we can be.

All my best,

The King of Spades