My input to BSA Survey about changing its policy
regarding LGBT members:
I have been a cub and Boy Scout volunteer for 8 years. I am the proud father of an Eagle Scout. I am the proud father of a second son who is a First Class Scout.
I believe in Scouting. I believe in it because it means more than the sum of it parts. In my view the core mission of Boy Scouting is to turn boys into great young men with a love and respect for their family, country and the outdoors. Ingrained from the very start is to respect others for who they are and what they can do. In my son's Eagle Court of Honor we gave the "Eagle's Challenge" and in it, these words hold the greatest of meanings in the context of this discussion:
"The Eagle protects and defends the weak and the helpless. He aids and comforts the oppressed and the unfortunate. He upholds the rights of others while defending his own."
These words matter. It's not just about what kind of Scout we are and want to be. It's not about what kind of citizen we are or want to be.
It is about what kind of person we are and want to be. To treat people different because of where they come from, who and how they worship or what color their skin is would be wrong. As a Scout, it would be unthinkable to treat a person any different because of these things. Why then, as a organization, as Scouts, do we seek to institutionalize a belief system that would treat a lesbian mother or a gay Scout as somehow less than deserving the same opportunities, respect and membership in BSA? Each and every one of us has unique gifts and life experiences to bring to BSA and we should not exclude a group of people because they don't fit into a narrow viewpoint of love and relationships. As Scouts, we are better than that. At least, we should be.
