Another story from a different part of Michigan

[eisely]

The story below deals with a ballot initiative in which the proponents of the initiative apparently used pictures of boys scouts in their mailings. There was a similar controversy in Florida earlier in the year. I think BSA is right in refusing to get involved in these campaigns and trying to limit the use of BSA imagery by others.

 

I wonder why there is so much action in Michigan.

 

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Boy Scouts Can't Escape Debate Over Homosexual Rights

By Matt Pyeatt

CNSNews.com Staff Writer

October 19, 2001

 

(CNSNews.com) - A ballot initiative in Traverse City, Mich. aimed at prohibiting preferential treatment for homosexuals, has swept the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) organization into a controversy it would rather ignore.

 

A local campaign committee called the Traverse City Citizens Voting Yes For Equal Rights, Not Special Rights, mailed out a postcard to attract support for the ballot referendum. The postcard shows three Boy Scouts saluting an American flag. However, the BSA has not endorsed the referendum and would prefer not to be involved in the debate.

 

"We are very strongly opposed to the idea of using children - in this case a particular group of children - to make a political point," Peter Magoun, president of the Scenic Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America, told the Traverse City Record-Eagle. The Scenic Trails Council is the local governing body for Traverse City's Boy Scouts.

 

Greg Shields, spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America, agreed with Magoun and added, "we're totally apolitical. We do not take a position on political bills, candidates or anything similar to that."

 

"We don't use and do not authorize the use of children or the use of the Boy Scout image in political campaigns," Shields said.

Whether it seeks the political limelight or not, the Boy Scout organization finds itself in the middle of the debate over homosexual rights because of its long standing policy, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, that bans homosexual scout leaders.

 

Since last year's ruling by the high court, the BSA has been subject to withering criticism from homosexual activist organizations, and as a result, several Boy Scout chapters have lost funding or sponsorship in their local communities.

 

Gary Glenn, head of the American Family Association of Michigan, has made numerous references to the Boy Scouts while promoting the Traverse City ballot measure and says the proposal directly affects the scouts.

 

If approved, the referendum would prohibit "the city from passing any ordinance, rule or law that grants special protected or minority status or hiring quotas or other preferential treatment on the basis of homosexual behavior," Glenn said.

 

"With all due respect to the Boy Scout bureaucracy, the principles that the Boy Scouts stand for deserve to be defended in the political arena. The Boy Scouts have been under constant attack by homosexual activists in the public policy arena," Glenn said.

 

"It is the main focal point of our discussion of the entire issue because it is such a clear example of attempts by homosexual activists to use so-called 'gay rights' laws to discriminate against citizens or organizations who oppose homosexual behavior, the Boy Scouts being the prime example over the past two years," Glenn said.

 

"We do find it curious to be under attack by the Boy Scout bureaucracy, but this is an organization we are committed to defending because of the common sense stand it's taking to protect young boys from exposure to homosexual behavior," Glenn said.

 

Shields denied the BSA was attacking the local groups. "We're simply saying that we are an apolitical organization. We don't make or take positions in political campaigns," he said.

 

"The most poignant example is, for instance, last year when a vote was taken on the Boy Scout's own federal charter. We did not lobby or take a position on that bill. We allowed that legislation to rise to a vote in Congress, and we did not take a position on that bill," Shields said.

 

According to Shields, the campaign group that paid for the mailings apologized for the use of the Boy Scouts on the postcard. "They have apologized and they will not do that again," he said.