The Boy Scouts of America continue to wrestle with the issue of gay membership. There has been movement, but gay members are still not allowed to be open about their sexuality.
So this week Q-Line asked:
Do you think the scouts should change their policy and why?
Here are your responses:
"We live in the 21st century. Gays have existed since time immemorial. Some of the most beautiful artworks have been done by gay people. Apparently, the guy that did the Sistine Chapel was gay, and he's wonderful. So yes, I think the Boy Scouts should accept people that are gay. I have a son, and he's an actor. He ain't gay, but he's got some friends that are. So let's wake up and step to the plate. This is the 21st century. We're not in some antiquated thing. Even the government is accepting gay people. We have Congress people that are gay. So let's step up to the plate."
"I think it's ridiculous the Boy Scouts have to go through a question like this. If you're gay, you're gay. It's your business; it shouldn't be anybody else's business. It's just ridiculous. You don't have to go spread it all about, and if it bothers the Boys Scouts, it bothers the Boy Scouts. Being gay has nothing to do with the Boy Scouts. Just keep it to yourself."
"This society gets more and more perverted on every level as the years pass. Even the churches are ripe with it. And young people with all the lack of morality throughout our so-called culture don't know which end is up anymore. Those are the ones I feel sorry for. The adults, so-called, are old enough, hopefully, to make their stupid, foul choices. And they have to live with it. But the poor young people don't have a chance in today's amoral society. Please don't out these practicing, flaunting homosexuals in the Boy Scouts staffing. If I had a son, I would never put him in the Boy Scouts. And it is a marvelous organization for developing boys. But if this becomes the new staffing procedure, it's just impossible to think about putting a child, a young boy, in with that group. Give the children a break from all the filth and immorality of this worsening society."
"I do not agree that they should belong to the same troop. I am a mother of boys and girls, and I know that at 11 years of age a heterosexual male is just discovering his masculinity and the changes — the body's biological changes — and the emotional feelings and the confusion that comes with it. He has sort of a sexual awakening, which can be confusing as it is. If the Boy Scouts would like to have openly gay Boy Scouts, then maybe they should have a troop with openly gay boys. I'm not against gay people. It's just that I do understand the nature of boys at that particular age. It's very confusing for them. I think that, as men grow older and they've gone through their teen years, etc., that they're more accepting of people who are different than themselves as it would be with gay boys. I do not think that it's something that should be accepted in one troop by itself. It's too much for an 11-year-old boy to 12, to 13, to 14 to actually deal with. Homosexual men, or boys, they have to deal with a lot of discoveries of themselves, too, sexually, etc. But it's very hard for a heterosexual male also at that age. And I would think that if they were going to have a troop of gay Boy Scouts they would at least have them all be in gay and not mixed in with heterosexual boys who are still discovering who they are sexually, biologically, etc."
"I have the greatest respect for the Boys Scouts of America. Several of my son's closest friends have achieved Eagle Scout. However, the Boy Scouts' policy on excluding gays was the primary reason we did not enroll my son in Cub Scouts and then Boy Scouts. Shame on the Boy Scouts of America; wake up and join the 21st century."
"I think the organization should be allowed to recruit the members that they need. Over the years they've done a really terrific job with young men, as does the Girl Scouts, so I think they should have some right to select the people who they want. I also think the gay issue is a very difficult one. I support them in their efforts. I'm a member of the gay community to give you an idea on where I stand."
"I think the Boy Scouts is one of the finest organizations to infuse its young members with individual thought, self-reliance and moral direction. That is why the left's hatred is so great, so it sends its dogs of war to maul the ideals of scouting, by using surrogate ideas. If you don't like the Boy Scouts, start your own gay scouts. As a business organization, are you afraid of gay retribution purchasing power? Then take your faint support and assist the YMCA. Be gay, be straight, be a rocker or a rapper, be an Einstein, or be an idiot like a lot of people. But don't be someone who follows a politically correct charted course, using you to weaken this country."
"Don't ask don't tell didn't work for the military, and it wont work for the Boy Scouts. I always thought that scouting aimed to prepare young people to become leaders and good citizens. It makes me sad to see this is not the case. Children who grow up having learned they are not acceptable to society because of who they are become adults leading inauthentic lives. As for the scouting powers that be, who give their religious beliefs as a reason to discriminate against those unlike themselves, I can only conclude that they are acting contrary to the central Christian message of love. They are not Christian, as so often happens society will have to wait until the backward generation dies off for scouting to fulfill its higher purposes."
editor@www.smdp.com
