Not quite same old...same old

[eisely]

As we know it is not unusual to have demonstrators show up protesting BSA's policy on homosexuality. What is unusual is for supporters of BSA to organize a counter demonstration.

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Groups hold competing rallies on Scout policy

12 protest ban on gay members while others show support

 

By Brian Louis

JOURNAL REPORTER

 

The two sides in the debate over the Boy Scouts of America's ban on openly gay members and leaders held small, competing rallies yesterday in front of the Old Hickory Council's headquarters on Silas Creek Parkway.

 

Twelve protesters demonstrated against the policy and carried signs, including some that said "Hate is not morally straight" and "Scouting for all."

 

"The policy is not a Boy Scout thing to do," said Matt Hill, a senior at Reynolds High School, who organized the protest.

 

Hill, 18, said he was forced out of his Boy Scout troop in Winston-Salem about four years ago after he openly said he was gay and founded Students Promoting Equality, Awareness & Knowledge, formerly the Gay/Straight Alliance, at Reynolds.

 

Yesterday's rally was the third protest against Scout policy that Hill has organized in Winston-Salem in recent years.

 

Hill's friend Molly Miller, 18, said she was shocked that he was forced out of the Boy Scouts. "I don't think they should be able to discriminate," said Miller, who went to the rally to support him. "I never thought they would do something like that."

 

Hill said he would "love to get back in the organization" and he'd like to be a Scout leader some day and give back what the Boy Scouts have given him. He joined the Scouts in fifth grade.

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the driveway leading into the region's Scouting headquarters, about 30 demonstrators supporting the Boy Scouts' policy held such signs as "God bless the Scouts," "Honk for the Boy Scouts," and "God made Adam & Eve, not Adam & Steve."

 

The counter-protesters were organized by Vernon Robinson, a member of the Winston-Salem City Council and candidate for the Republican nomination for the 5th Congressional District.

 

The Boy Scout oath says that a Scout will do his best to "keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight." Robinson said that "homosexuality is inconsistent with being morally straight."

 

Dennis Cheek, 49, of Winston-Salem said he was there to support the Boy Scouts' right to set their own policies.

 

He held a sign that said "God bless the Boy Scouts."

 

He said that opponents of the Boy Scouts' policy "have the freedom to form their own group."

 

The issue of gays in the Boy Scouts gained widespread publicity in a lawsuit that ended up being decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

In 2000, the high court ruled that the Boy Scouts, as a private group, has the right to ban gays as leaders.

 

Steve Wilburn, the scout executive with the Old Hickory Council of the Boy Scouts, which covers the Winston-Salem area, said that the group didn't have a problem with the demonstrators outside. He said that the Boy Scouts organization respects the rights of both groups to express themselves.

 

He also reiterated the Boy Scouts' policy banning gays, saying that "we don't believe homosexual behavior is consistent with the values and ideals of the Scout oath and Scout law."

 

 

[acco40]

It is sad that our society has become so polarized that events like these occur on a routine basis.

 

 

[NJCubScouter]

Eisely, although you are our unofficial (nearly official) "news monitor" in this section, it does seem to me that I have heard of a rally or two supporting the BSA policy in question. Or, maybe I am confusing it with some of the web sites and articles I have seen, that support that policy. I recall at one point (and this probably goes back 2 years or more) a statement by the BSA distancing itself from one or more of the "support the BSA groups" and some of the more strident statements made by those groups.

 

What I find most interesting about your post is that I believe it is the first actual example I have seen of a Boy Scout (a youth member) being "forced out" of a troop for being openly gay. It would be interesting to know what sequence of events led to that occurrence.

[eisely]

I suspect that there have been other incidents of youth being forced out after declaring that they were homosexual. However, BSA is not going to broadcast this information, and I suspect any youth involved would probably want to keep it to themselves as well. This guy apparently is now over 18.

[MarkNoel]

This guy in question here -- Matt Hill -- is a senior in high school, and just turned 18. He's also the founder of a gay-straight alliance at his high school and is pretty outspoken now about what he's been through.

 

He has written a brief description of his case and we're in the process of collecting some more documents and news articles about it. They will be posted here:

 

http://www.inclusivescouting.net/bsa/cases/hill

 

If anyone is interested in talking with him directly, please let me know and I can put you in touch.

 

YiS,

-Mark

 

[evmori]

Look what surfaced!

 

Not YiS, MARKNOEL! You aren't a member!

[Bob White]

"It is sad that our society has become so polarized that events like these occur on a routine basis."

 

Is this really a new phenomena? Is it something that society has "become" or something that has always existed in societies? I doubt that much evidence can be gather to support the argument that polarization is a new characteristic in our world or our current society.

 

Remember the 60s? Gun Control? How about the War between the States? Torries and Whigs? The French Revolution? Less Filling-Tastes Great? Regular or Decaf? Boxers or briefs?

 

Draw a line almost anywhere and some people will mant to step on one side while some step to the other.

 

Polarization is not new to our culture or anyone elses, at any time in history.

 

[MarkNoel]

evmori:

 

Yes, YiS, and it will continue to be so. I'm no longer a member of the BSA, but please remember two things:

 

1. The Scouting movement is bigger than just the BSA.

2. The BSA may have rejected me, but I haven't rejected the principles or values of Scouting.

 

I realize that this will probably result in a flood of posts about exactly what the "values" of Scouting are, so let me go ahead and volunteer the opinion that we share more than you may think. The concentrated focus on a couple of divisive issues where reasonable people (and religions) disagree seems to cloud that fact sometimes...

 

YiS,

-Mark