The show, which is scheduled to begin on the channel on March 4, is a competition show that pits active scouts against adults who have never been scouts in tasks typical of what is asked of Boy Scout members. The potential change in the Boy Scouts of America’s policy regarding gay scouts also came after demands from gay organizations that a coming show on the National Geographic Channel called “Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?” contain a disclaimer denouncing the Boy Scouts for discriminating against gay candidates for membership. “It will open the door to an awful lot of kids to stay with scouting or get involved in scouting in the first place, and that’s really important,” he said. He said he remained firm in his belief that scouting has value. Andresen’s father, Eric, who has been working with groups representing gay scouts, said in an interview that even he was astonished by the pace of change. would not require any chartered organization to act in ways inconsistent with that organization’s mission, principles, or religious beliefs.” He said that members and parents would be able to choose a local unit that best met the needs of their families. Smith, the Scouts spokesman, said that under the proposed policy, “the B.S.A. “Scouting is a valuable institution, and this change will only strengthen its core principles of fairness and respect.” “The Boy Scouts of America have heard from scouts, corporations and millions of Americans that discriminating against gay scouts and scout leaders is wrong,” said Herndon Graddick, the president of Glaad, an advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
Groups that had pushed for the change said that even if senior scout leaders had second thoughts about the policy, it would probably be too late. In 2000, the Supreme Court affirmed the Boy Scouts’ right to refuse gay members. Board meetings are private and closed to the public and the news media, she said. Scout officials gave no timeline for making a formal decision, or for putting the policy into effect, but a spokeswoman said in an e-mail that discussion was anticipated at next week’s national executive board meeting. Local chapters would be able to decide whether to admit gay scouts. Perhaps even more momentous was the acknowledgment that scouting itself had moved on, with a diversity of thought like the multicultural and sexually diverse buzz of modern America itself, that no longer could be confined or defined by a dictated policy from headquarters. First, it removed from discussion the idea, voiced in July by senior national scout leaders, that the ban was in the best interests of scouts themselves. The announcement on Monday by Scouts officials that the ban on gays was in line for elimination was thus a thunderclap on two fronts, scouts and people close to the organization said. Openly gay scouts and scout leaders need not apply.
It was a view reaffirmed in Scout policy as recently as seven months ago.
The Boy Scouts of America, with its traditions of youth in uniform and the character-building virtues of honor, has always looked back to an older, more structured image of America, when gay and lesbian people were invisible and silent.
0 kommentar(er)
