Seems contradictory

[Jr_Bullit]

Isn't this the same organization that banned gay troop leaders?



Ex-Boy Scout leaders unveil gay-friendly identification program

May 20, 2004

BY LUCIO GUERRERO Staff Reporter Advertisement

Former Boy Scout leaders unveiled a plan Wednesday that asks current members to wear a patch on their uniforms identifying themselves as someone a Scout can talk to about their sexual orientation without fear of being thrown out of the group.

Called the ''Inclusive Scouting Award,'' the patch has two ropes -- one in gay-friendly rainbow colors -- intertwined. It was unveiled at a press conference here, near the Boy Scouts of America's national convention.

''There are hundreds of thousands of boys who are Boy Scouts who are realizing that the Boy Scouts' anti-gay policy applies to them and they don't know who they can talk to about it," said Mark Noel, director of the Coalition of Inclusive Scouting. "We need to do something to make sure the scouting environment is more hospitable and more accepting to these kids."

Under the plan, Scouts who display the badge will be seen as an ally to kids who may be questioning their sexuality. The Scouts who have the badge promise not to reveal the information to leaders who may move to expel the Scout.

Link (http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-boy20.html)

[Tenchiro]

Wow, this will make it easy for them to find and ostracize the gay kids.

[$tinkle]

i've got a few ideas for badges:

1: it looks like a windowless van with an arm dangling a piece of candy out the window. If a kid needs explanation of various aspects of gay porn, he can have an experienced & understanding troop leader there for guidance. Which (un)naturally evolves into session #2: if a kid wants to know if he's masturbating correctly, he can discretely approach the leader & they can go figure it out. A forward thinking boy scout would realize that he will in due course become a scout leader (in essence "passing it on"), and will thereby be investing in his very own future as a conflicted weekend pedarast.

2: a silouette of a man with a boy on his lap. This will be indicative of the boy sitting on the adult's lap & they can talk about anything that pops up!

3: a picture of Dr Dobson framed with a red circle-slash. This means you don't want to focus on your own family, but rather want to branch out to find out who else is gay, not just that uncle who never married.

[LordOpie]

"Canteen Boy, would you mind rubbing some oil on my hairy chest?"

snl++;

[Slugman]

Originally posted by $tinkle
i've got a few ideas for badges:

1: it looks like a windowless van with an arm dangling a piece of candy out the window. If a kid needs explanation of various aspects of gay porn, he can have an experienced & understanding troop leader there for guidance. Which (un)naturally evolves into session #2: if a kid wants to know if he's masturbating correctly, he can discretely approach the leader & they can go figure it out. A forward thinking boy scout would realize that he will in due course become a scout leader (in essence "passing it on"), and will thereby be investing in his very own future as a conflicted weekend pedarast.

2: a silouette of a man with a boy on his lap. This will be indicative of the boy sitting on the adult's lap & they can talk about anything that pops up!

3: a picture of Dr Dobson framed with a red circle-slash. This means you don't want to focus on your own family, but rather want to branch out to find out who else is gay, not just that uncle who never married.

That's right(winged) - any gay man is a child molester... :dead:

[Jr_Bullit]

Originally posted by Slugman
That's right(winged) - any gay man is a child molester... :dead:

Are you serious or being sarcastic?

[golgiaparatus]

Originally posted by Jr_Bullit
Current members to wear a patch on their uniforms identifying themselves as someone a Scout can talk to about their sexual orientation without fear of being thrown out of the group.

I can see it now... "hey Billy I saw you talking to one of the patch wearing guys... stay the hell away from me"

[zod]

Originally posted by LordOpie
"Canteen Boy, would you mind rubbing some oil on my hairy chest?"

snl++;

:D

[$tinkle]

Originally posted by Slugman
That's right(winged) - any gay man is a child molester... :dead: is it any gay man who wants to put himself in a position of influence & trust over a boy? Of course not - in fact it's very much an exception. But let's not kid ourselves: who would take up this position & push an agenda counter to their own? Are we pushing the hikers' agenda here as mtnbikers? What does conflict of interest mean to you?

[Damn True]

Is it possible that the BSoA has had a change of heart on the issue?

I can be pretty sceptical at times, but I'll allow the potential for change.

[Slugman]

Originally posted by $tinkle
But let's not kid ourselves: who would take up this position & push an agenda counter to their own?

I guess I don't see the "push an agenda" aspect of it. And there are actually lots of people who can discuss (without condemnation) homosexuality without being gay...

[MMike]

What about Big Gay Al?

[$tinkle]

Originally posted by Slugman
I guess I don't see the "push an agenda" aspect of it. And there are actually lots of people who can discuss (without condemnation) homosexuality without being gay... well, the BSA does have an agenda which is counter to the gay agenda. That's what all the hubbub's been about the last - oh - 5 years or so.

The BSA's position about homosexuality is biblically based (as the ACLU has successfully argued). Furthermore, the BSA requires their members be "morally straight", and homosexuality is counter to this, in the BSA's opinion.

it's not a matter of condemnation, but rather what's acceptable within the BSA's standards. Much like what's acceptable at work is a subset of what's acceptable at home. I have an expectation of certain inalienable rights at home, a portion of which i voluntarily sacrifice in order to apply for my job.

[LordOpie]

Originally posted by MMike
What about Big Gay Al?
not everything is about you.

[Silver]

The BSA has already responded to this....if a scout is seen talking to someone with the "Inclusive Scouting Award" patch, they get a pink patch in the shape of a triangle.

[Jr_Bullit]

Originally posted by Silver
The BSA has already responded to this....if a scout is seen talking to someone with the "Inclusive Scouting Award" patch, they get a pink patch in the shape of a triangle.

Oh how lovely...isn't that how Germans identified their Jewish neighbors was by an armband? This is just a more colorful version of that isn't it? :(

[Silver]

Originally posted by Jr_Bullit
Oh how lovely...isn't that how Germans identified their Jewish neighbors was by an armband? This is just a more colorful version of that isn't it? :(

Nope, the Jews got a yellow star. Homosexuals and other "deviants" got a pink triangle.

I did make the part about the BSA up though...so there is no need to be sad. :p

[valve bouncer]

I'm sure Baden Powell would approve, as uh....."fond"....of boys as he was.:confused: :eek: ;)

[Tenchiro]

First I am still do not understand why people feel the need to identify themselves suxually in non-sexual situations (i.e., Scouting).

Secondly, isn't "Inclusive Scouting" that breakaway group of ex scouts, so does this really ahve anything to do with the BSA?

[LordOpie]

Originally posted by Silver
I did make the part about the BSA up though...so there is no need to be sad. :p
man, Jr_B's been trolled so easily lately.
Originally posted by Tenchiro
First I am still do not understand why people feel the need to identify themselves suxually in non-sexual situations (i.e., Scouting).
I'm in agreeance, but scouts is a valid place to discuss sex. That's the part of the point of scouts, to guide and mentor kids. The other part is so they'll have the skills and ability to cut their arm off when a boulder falls on it.

[Tenchiro]

Originally posted by LordOpie
I'm in agreeance, but scouts is a valid place to discuss sex. That's the part of the point of scouts, to guide and mentor kids. The other part is so they'll have the skills and ability to cut their arm off when a boulder falls on it.

Well when I was a scout I can't remember the subject ever coming up...

[LordOpie]

Originally posted by Tenchiro
Well when I was a scout I can't remember the subject ever coming up...
well, the boulder guy only lost his arm recently, not when you were a kid.

In other words, time's change.

[$tinkle]

Originally posted by Silver
The BSA has already responded to this....if a scout is seen talking to someone with the "Inclusive Scouting Award" patch, they get a pink patch in the shape of a triangle. funny story: when i was a messenger in DC in the late 80's, my inclement weather jacket was a bellwether pseudo-gortex zip up that was purple sleeves, & a big ass upside down pink triangle on the front & back (for hi-vis, i swear!). Only after a few dropoffs in dupont circle - a.k.a. "the fruit loop" - did i realize...

so to not appear as though i had been inadvertantly outted, i wore it until the mid 90's.

[Silver]

$tinkle, you better not let that story get out to the neighbours, or Focus on the Family might end up burning a pink triangle on your lawn :D

[Tenchiro]

Originally posted by LordOpie
well, the boulder guy only lost his arm recently, not when you were a kid.

In other words, time's change.

Well the handbook had a chapter on amputation.

[Skookum]

Originally posted by LordOpie
not everything is about you.
every once in a great long while, Opie pulls a out a nugget of gold.

[ito]

Originally posted by Tenchiro
Well when I was a scout I can't remember the subject ever coming up...

Like Opie said, times change....I was in scouts for several years and when you have boys ranging from 13-18 sex comes up in conversations often.

As far as BSA's stance on gays is concerned, very few people(at least where I live) hold true to it. I work at a camp for BSA each summer and it's obvious that a few of the scouts are fruity. It's not a big deal to any of the councelors, but the scouts do get hazed by some of their peers....just like at school or on a sports team, it'll happen anywhere.

The patch idea sounds like the "Safe Space" program that is going on here at my school. A rainbow sticker on a door means that anyone who wished to disucss confidential, personal matters will have their rights respected.

It's a great idea and I'm glad that someone is taking measures to implement it. Joke all you want, but I've seen a lot of kids(scouts and others) who are depressed and angry at the world because they don't have someone to talk with. Sexual and sexuality questions are bound to come up, not prompted by the scoutmasters, but by the scouts. Having a peer who is willing to listen to your problems can put a lot of things in perspective.

Scouting is an education not just in outdoor and leadership skills, but in communication and community. A troop bonds together well and having the resource for a boy to talk and trust another scout is important. This is just formalizing what is probably already happening.

The Ito

[BurlyShirley]

haha,

This is great.

When I was in scouts, I had a very interesting group of kids with me. The scout leader was this total hippie dirtbag 70's rocker guy who had a kid in scouts, and he eventually took over.
Of the 8 of us, only myself and this kid named "James Carney" are the only two who havent been convicted of a major felony of some kind. Its pretty great. James Carney now, though, still lives with his parents and has no job and takes drugs all day long. The german kid, Alan Mize, got kicked out of my Jr. High for being a Nazi and spraypainting a swastika on the side of the school and some other crap. BJ Lewis turned into a satan worshiper and spends most of his time in and out of jail these days on DUIs and drug chargers. Josh Sweeney plotted to blow up my highschool and was expelled, he never graduated and I heard he got in trouble for child molestation a year ago. Bubba Galloway is dead. He got shot in the face while trying to break into some dudes house. David Brown died of a heart attack after using too much coke.
Its scary, the fact that i was the crazy kid back then, that Im the only one whose not really screwed my life all to hell just yet.

Scouts is great.:p

[drtbikrr]

Alright, being an active scout right now, I don't really want gays in scouts, although I think the hole rule was basically designed around being anti-gay leaders, there are times that sometimes the boys have to be around the scoutmaster or another dad to learn skills, or do a scoutmaster conference (interview for rank advancement), which can sometimes result in a lot of alone time with an influentual adult figure. Also, who knows that they're gay when they're 10? I think that people generally don't know/come out of the closet untill around freshman or sophomore year in high school. Also, the BSA shouldn't have gays in it because the gays do have a tendency to get roughed up a little (seen it happen at camp). Just my $.02