Recently the Boy Scouts of America decided to change its long-standing anti-gay policy to now allow individual troops to decide on allowing homosexual members and leaders.
The situation has escalated over the course of the past year, as parents are concerned over the safety of their son in an organization with homosexual leaders and members. Many parents worry the presence of homosexual leaders on weekend camping trips often in the backwoods could be an open invitation for possible molestation. This is partially reflected by society’s viewpoint as well, according to anthropology professor Laura Heinemann.
“For many years the dominant paradigm in the U.S. has been one of heteronormativity, meaning that rather narrow ideas about gender and sexuality (and even kinship) have held sway for quite some time here,” Heinemann said. “Anything that existed outside of these dominant ideas was largely stigmatized, feared and considered ‘unnatural.’” The fear of what most people don’t fully understand has caused them, and the Boy Scouts for a long time, to become subject to irrational fear. The immediate connection between homosexual leaders and pedophilia is not only unfair to them, but judgmental and discriminatory at the same time. A homosexual Boy Scout leader is much like a father becoming a leader of his daughter’s Girl Scout troop, only becoming troublesome to the outside viewer when he believes the worst and doesn’t look at the full picture. This worry about the “unnatural” is even more off touch and unwarranted, as the Boy Scouts take great care and concern in the safety of its members, regardless of the leader’s sexual orientation. Since 1987 the organization has instituted the two-deep rule, meaning there is never any one-on-one contact in isolation between a scout and leader, but there are always two leaders present. This policy is well followed too according to Eagle Scout Eric Millichamp.
“I can’t think of a single time when there was one child and adult,” Millichamp said. Boy Scout Troop 425 leader Stew Klink further affirmed the great lengths the Scouts take to make sure this is followed.
“We’ve cancelled things when more than one parent couldn’t come,” Klink stated. “The policy must be followed all the time. It’s religiously upheld; two deep is a must. Our troop follows it all the time.”
The amount of care and attention to detail in avoiding all types of isolation is imperative for youth organizations today, especially after the horrific events of Jerry Sandusky and his organization The Second Mile. By selecting leaders with great moral integrity in the first place and taking the non-isolation approach, the Boy Scouts can make the step toward equality effortlessly and smoothly without people needing to worry about the safety of the young men.
The Boy Scouts flexibility to compromise, by both accepting homosexual members and leaders while also addressing the safety concerns presented by others is truly commendable.
The Scouts offer too many great programs and opportunities to build the character of America’s young men for a policy to stand in the way of possible new scouts.
As long as any amount of care at all is taken, there is no reason for a safety problem in the organization. Especially when parents are able to choose which troop their son is joining, and they have the ability to know the scout leaders. The special care the organization takes to prevent any type of molestation and cause for concern has been very solid so far, and indeed admirable.
While safety is the main cause for the concern for parents and people outside the organization, the organization’s willingness to accept anyone regardless of sexual orientation, and the great care taken to ensure the safety of the Scouts is genuinely laudable
from one of the nation’s most prestigious long-standing organizations.