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Here is an update on the Boy Scout piece. It is also an update on how I need to become more concise. To do a comment for WRVO (our local NPR station), I needed to cut things down to 3 and a half minutes. Here is the result: COMMENT : Boy Scouts’ Obstinacy toward Gays Confuses Morality with Bigotry Recently the New Jersey Supreme Court found that the Boy Scouts’ firing of an Eagle scout leader, simply because he was gay, was a violation of the state's anti-discrimination law. I know from personal experience that scouting has had a serious and long-standing problem with sexuality. As an adolescent, I, like everyone else, was curious about sex. The big topic then, circa 1960, was masturbation. Remember J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye ? Scouting, including the official manual, offered little help. Although it did not repeat the old wives’’ tale about going blind, nothing was done to educate or reassure young men that masturbation was normal and healthy. The answers we got were vague and somewhat menacing. I recall reading something like “although masturbation may not cause physical harm it could be psychologically damaging”. What did that mean? What kind of damage? What I needed but did not get was reliable information. What a huge difference a simple, affirming statement could have made to me and to millions of other young men like me. By failing to provide accurate information, the Scouts perpetuated, the traditional, negative attitudes about sex. Although that experience happened forty years ago, from the looks of things, nothing's changed. It should be obvious that today the issue is not as simple as my generation's guilt over masturbating. It is much greater. It has to do with hatred and bigotry and respecting the multifacetedness of human creation. Their national policies not withstanding I have been to enough awards’ dinners, to know that scouting has the potential for growth. The good people who give of their time and energy are a better measure of the organization than its national policy. Nonetheless change will not come easily since scouting leaders have become entrenched. They have vowed to take this issue to the U.S. Supreme Court. This is surprising, too. You may recall that immediately after the decision, a number of stories appeared in the media which gave the impression that things were loosening. Nonetheless, having recently talked to, Renee Farrar, the national media rep from Dallas, it was clear that all the stories were erroneous and Boy Scouts’ position regarding gays was closed. It is interesting that, in explaining their legal appeal, the Boy Scouts have stressed their rights as a private organization. I suggest that, at its core, this case is not about the rights of a private organization. Let the racist country clubs and Ku Klux Klan hide behind that ploy. The scouts are not, in essence, a private organization. They are all American and Americans come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and orientations . When all is said and done, this controversy is about values. The Scouts want to frame the issue as a moral one but I suggest that the real issue is prejudice. Prejudice is an ugly thing. Scouting’s exclusive rules are just another example of what happens when ignorance and fear run wild and bigotry results. How quickly we forget. Not so long ago blacks were seen the same way gays are seen today: as immoral, and frighteningly sexual. The hate crimes perpetrated against gays are much like the lynchings conducted on black men less than a century ago. The Boy Scouts need to confront their own prejudice and let go of their self serving moralism. The national leadership not withstanding, I hope that people who love scouting will search their souls and open their minds. By giving up their legal appeals and accepting gays as members and leaders, scouting can be a leader to end bigotry and to help change our fundamental attitudes about sex. They are uniquely placed to influence and lead young men in a new direction regarding not only sex but brotherhood and the acceptance of diversity. Rev. Michael Heath, Fayetteville NY - 10/7/99 |