Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
The executive committee of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has voted unanimously to strike down a long-standing policy banning gay men from serving as scout leaders.
The Christian Post is reporting on the announcement, which was made yesterday, that will lift the ban but allow individual Scout troops to set their own policy on leaders which means that church-sponsored troops would be permitted to uphold the ban.
“This change allows Scouting’s members and parents to select local units, chartered to organizations with similar beliefs, that best meet the needs of their families,” the BSA said in a statement. “This change would also respect the right of religious chartered organizations to continue to choose adult leaders whose beliefs are consistent with their own.”
The resolution must now be voted upon by the organizations 80-member National Executive Board at a meeting on July 27. It is expected to pass.
BSA president and former Defense Secretary Robert Gates hinted at the change in May when he said the ban on openly gay leaders is no longer sustainable and that keeping the ban would likely result in lawsuits.
“I am not asking the national board for any action to change our current policy at this meeting,” Gates told members at the time. “But I must speak as plainly and bluntly to you as I spoke to presidents when I was director of the CIA and secretary of defense. We must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be.”
He added: “We can act on our own or be forced to act. But either way, I suspect we do not have a lot of time.”
Lifting the ban in an effort to avoid lawsuits may simply lead to a change in the kind of lawsuits being filed, from gays suing to lead troops to the BSA being sued for molestation of Scouts by gay leaders. Although gay activists vehemently deny any link between homosexuality and pedophilia, there is a large body of evidence to the contrary.
The BSA has had plenty of abuse cases involving Scout leaders and prepubescent boys. In fact, the public has long been clamoring for the organization to reveal it’s so-called “perversion files” which detail the many cases of sexual abuse of Scouts by leaders over the last 30-40 years.
The most recent abuse case was announced July 9 when two former scouts from Minnesota filed a lawsuit alleging molestation by Scout leaders.
The BSA decision comes with a firm religious exception and a promise that the organization “rejects any interference with or condemnation of the diverse beliefs of chartering organizations on matters of marriage, family, and sexuality.”
It remains to be seen how firmly BSA will stand behind the exemption.
Southern Evangelical Seminary President Dr. Richard Land, supports the exemption, but is still concerned about how the new policy could impact boys in scouting.
“If you put them in the compromising situations that you are sometimes in with Scout leaders and Scouts, in terms of camping and other situations, it could lead to great tragedy for children,” Land said. “It’s best to avoid the temptation.”
Thankfully, new scouting organizations for boys are forming and their membership is growing.
For instance, Trail Life USA, based in Orlando Florida, told The Christian Post last year that their “unapologetically biblical” organization was experiencing major growth since the Boy Scouts decided to allow gay boy scouts in 2013.
“We don’t see Trail Life as being an independent boys group, we see it as being integrated into the life of a church, an extension of the church,” Trail of Life CEO Mark Hancock told CP, adding that a “very large majority of our charter partners are churches.”
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