So Much For “Tolerance”
By Catherina Hurlburt
January/February 2001 Family Voice

No. The Boy Scouts don’t have a new merit badge for “gay pride” and “tolerance.” But if militant homosexual-rights activists have their way, the Scouts will either accept homosexuals in leadership—or disappear from American culture. The latest action (as Family Voice went to press) is the Los Angeles City Council’s unanimous decision to cut all ties with the Scouts. And Scout detractors continue their campaign around the country ...

Los Angeles, Democratic National Convention, August 15, 2000: The air is thick with cheering. Eagle Scouts with an adult leader take the stage. Somewhere amid the crowd, a faint but distinctive booing rises above the din. Delegates jeer the boys and hold a sign that reads, “We Support Gay Boy Scouts.” Fortunately, the boys don’t hear the heckling. But their leader does, and so does the rest of America when the news reaches the papers.

Gay-rights activists want their way in every venue possible, regardless of who—including young boys—gets in their way. They hoped to advance their cause through the courts. Former Scout leader James Dale was supposed to be their man. When the BSA denied Dale an assistant scoutmaster position because of his declared homosexuality, he sued. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in his favor. The next stop was the U.S. Supreme Court. CWA filed an amicus brief in support of BSA. The Court narrowly ruled in BSA’s favor with a 5-4 vote.

Some media claimed the public and corporate America widely disagreed with the decision. Actually, opposition to the Scouts is minimal, but vocal. “When you boo the policy,” said the Los Angeles BSA council spokesman, “you’re booing the kids.”

The battle had only just begun.

Scouting for All (SFA), a group that wants to force the Scouts to accept homosexuality, is behind the mayhem. Scott Cozza and his son, Steven, an Eagle Scout, started SFA. It has received support from Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Last August, SFA staged protests at BSA offices nationwide. Although 36 protests were planned, at least six offices witnessed no protesters. Few had more than a handful. In Dallas, a search for a homosexual youth to join the demonstration came up short. But they did find a colorful leader for the Toledo, Ohio, protest.

John Hemstreet led the protest in front of the Erie Shores Council. A convicted child molester and former Scout leader, he pled guilty in 1992 to sexual assault on a 10-year-old boy. Though admitting what he did was “horrendous,” he believes “an organization, like the Scouts, needs to be concerned with who [individuals] are as a person, not what they might be.”

Protests moved from the streets to school boards and city councils.

However, a WorldNetDaily reporter proved much of the Times article false with a few phone calls. But it took more than a week for the Times to run a correction: “Chicago no longer lets the Boy Scouts use parks, city buildings and schools without charge [emphasis added].” San Francisco public schools no longer sponsor recruitment drives during school hours, but the Scouts may still use public property. These decisions occurred before the Court’s ruling. The San Jose elementary school district does not allow recruiting during school hours because of tight schedules, not the Court’s decision.

In Framingham, Massachusetts, school superintendent Mark Smith decided the local troop may no longer distribute information or recruit members on school grounds. “My hope would be that the local or national chapter would change [its] policy,” said Smith in The MetroWest Daily News.

In San Diego, California, the ACLU is threatening a lawsuit to prevent the Scouts from renewing its Balboa Park lease. The current lease allows the Desert Pacific Council to pay $1 a year. At the same time, the ACLU is defending the North American Man-Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) in a lawsuit brought by parents of a 10-year-old boy who was sexually assaulted and brutally murdered by two men—one a NAMBLA member.

In New York City, activists are using the city’s anti-discrimination policy to end association with the Scouts. The New York City school system also pulled support.

An effort to ban a Cub Scout troop in Cape St. Claire, Maryland, failed soundly. Several hundred supporters attended a press conference backing the Scouts and heard nationally known conservatives, such as Alan Keyes.

Florida and Minnesota school districts have also restricted Scout activities. Cities in Arizona, Connecticut and Florida have also restricted support for and land use by Scout troops.

In the past decade, confirmed Cristofaro, eight others have dropped funding due to the Scouts’ oath. Gay-rights groups continue to target United Way chapters to eliminate Scout funding.

CWA-Washington State Director Anne Ball helped persuade United Way of King County not to withdraw BSA funding. “Too many Americans still believe in what [the Scouts] stand for,” said Mrs. Ball. “We encourage individuals to bypass the United Way and give directly to the Boy Scouts.”

Religious groups, notably the Mormons, Roman Catholics and Protestants, represent nearly 50 percent of the Boy Scouts’ support. Even denominations that support special rights for homosexuals have surprisingly chosen to respect BSA’s policy. If the oath were sabotaged, BSA would lose much of this base.

“Parents choose BSA for their boys today because they need support and unchanging values they can count on,” said Stan. He said he learned to respect diversity in the Scouts, where he met Jewish, Catholic and Protestant mentors.

That’s an important point. Before they founded the gay-rights group Scouting for All, the Cozzas were deeply involved with the Scouts. Clearly, BSA didn’t indoctrinate them with hatred toward homosexuals. Its purpose is to develop responsible young men, not engage in a political battle.

“The boys in my troops have helped clean up a canyon suffering from trashed neglect, fed the homeless outdoors in a winter storm, built and maintained trails and planted trees in parks, helped an orphanage, and shoveled snow for the elderly,” said Stan. “The Scout oath’s admonishment to ‘help other people at all times’ embodies service to others over self-gratification.”

Eagle Scout Jacob Riker took “helping others” to another level on May 21, 1998. Little did he know that would be the day everything he learned in scouting would save fellow students’ lives. When 15-year-old Kip Kinkel brandished a gun at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, Jacob tackled him, getting shot in the scuffle. His younger brother and three other students helped Jacob subdue Kinkel. “Scouting prepared me,” Jacob told Family Voice. “It taught me skills in common sense and good judgment.”

Protecting the Boys
BSA has clear-cut safety guidelines, including the presence of two adult leaders at all times. It also has devised rules to prevent molestation. But BSA national spokesman Gregg Shields emphasizes its policy against homosexuals in leadership and its guidelines for protecting against molestation are two separate issues.

“We do remove leaders on suspicion,” Shields said. “We don’t need a criminal conviction to remove someone.” If the policy changed, preventive measures could be hindered because of fear of accusations of “hate speech.”

Support the Scouts
While support for BSA remains strong, its detractors are gaining ground. The controversy has forced discussion between parents and children about the oath. Gay-rights advocates have hijacked the situation to teach youth to speak their language. The more youth buy in to their rhetoric, the greater the threat to BSA’s future.

Citizens and communities can take actions to help the Scouts, Shields said. He recommended they:

Volunteer. “That’s where scouting takes place,” said Shields. This includes time-consuming paperwork that takes away from scoutmasters’ time with children. Volunteers can help in many ways.

Start a troop. Churches, community and fraternal groups can charter troops. It’s a natural extension of a church’s youth ministry, noted Shields. These groups can provide much needed land and facilities to local troops.

No other group offers the set of values and programs the Boy Scouts provide. If gay-rights activists have their way, they will destroy a group voluntarily chosen by 6.2 million members. There’s nothing “tolerant” about that.

For information:

Boy Scouts of America
1325 W. Walnut Hill Lane
Irving, TX 75015
972-580-2000

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