Council president says they ignore rules against gays and atheists

[Oak Tree]

For a masculine rainbow, maybe some old ribbon cable?

 

Or you could go with a Tom Selleck mustache: http://www.flashnews.com/news/wfn06100520fn23635.html

[Oak Tree]

Membership is not denied to youth who openly claim to be gay. Never was. Period.

 

Well, hmmm.

 

Here's a site that's compiled various BSA policy statements on gays into one place.

http://www.bsa-discrimination.org/html/bsa_gay_policy.html

1978 - the first memorandum was issued due to two Explorers being expelled for being gay. "The impetus for these memoranda was the public revelation of the expulsion of two Explorer Scouts in Mankato, MN."

 

1991 position statement - "the Boy Scouts of America does not accept homosexuals as members or as leaders,"

 

Also '91, reported in '92 - At its February meeting, the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America voted unanimously to reaffirm its position regarding homosexuality. The position is that the Boy Scouts of America does not permit avowed homosexuals to be registered as leaders or members in the BSA. This position was upheld in May 1991 by the Superior Court in Los Angeles.

 

This is an anti-BSA-discrimination site, but the data appear to be accurate. The BSA did go to the Supreme Court and argue that they did not view homosexuality as consistent with the values they were trying to teach. Chief Justice Rehnquist quoted the BSA's policy statement in the written opinion. I found the opinion on FindLaw, and Rehnquist states that the Scouts state "Accordingly, we do not allow for the registration of avowed homosexuals as members or as leaders of the BSA."

 

In Curran v. Mount Diablo Council, we can read "The superior court denied summary judgment but ruled that a number of issues were without substantial controversy, including [five other things and] [d]efendant will not admit any homosexual into membership regardless of such persons qualifications and will dismiss homosexuals from membership if it becomes aware of the members homosexuality.

 

Also in that write-up - "The written policy to which the trial court referred was apparently a 1983 statement by the Legal Counsel of the Boy Scouts of America that declared: Avowed or known homosexuals are not permitted to register in the Boy Scouts of America. Membership in the organization is a privilege, not a right, and the Boy Scouts of America has determined that homosexuality and Scouting are not compatible."

 

And, quoting the BSA - "Q. May an individual who openly declares himself to be a homosexual be a registered unit member? A. No. As the Boy Scouts of America is a private, membership organization, participation in the program is a privilege and not a right. We do not feel that membership of such individuals is in the best interests of Scouting.

 

Those cases make it clear that BSA was indeed arguing for the ability to prohibit homosexual members - either youth or leaders. The Dale case ended up focusing on the expressive power of leaders, but the statements from the BSA seem pretty clear.

[BartHumphries]

On the previous page, someone said that a name change wasn't necessary, they should just tweak the logo with a more masculine rainbow. I replied: I'm curious, what would a "more masculine rainbow" look like?

 

Well, the image of a "more masculine rainbow" (based on Trogdor, I presumed) just wouldn't leave until I made this to share it with you all.

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a66/bubbajoe12345/scout/RainbowWarrior.png

 

Trogdor! I mean Raindor! Raindor the Burninator, I mean the Rainbinator, Rainbinating the countryside... Raindor!

 

If that's not funny to you, then you aren't one of the millions who's seen the original Strongbad email regarding Trogdor on HomestarRunner.com All the Council has to do to make the name "Rainbow Council" more attractive to youth is to have fun with it. If they take themselves deadly seriously, then people are going to keep making fun of them. If they are the first to make fun of themselves then suddenly what was a weak point becomes a source of strength to them. Instead of trying to hide the rainbow in the tail of a shooting star or whatever, they should embrace it. No, I'm not advocating that they should become the Pretty, Pretty Princess Council, they should push the rainbow the other way into ludicrously "manly" positions, like the Marine from the old Doom video game shooting a short rainbow burst from his gun while an alien on the receiving end writhes in pain or something. They should go with something so ridiculous that the youth we want to get into Scouting can't help but laugh and say something around their chuckles like, "Dude, that's awesome!"(This message has been edited by BartHumphries)

[qwazse]

Thanks for the legwork Oak Tree! Next time I see a practicing homosexual kid, I'll show him the door along with those promiscuous heterosexuals.

 

Bart, love it! But, I was thinking of some seriously rugged leprechauns in a a treasure laden canoe shooting some whitewater through a rainbow caused by the mist.

 

Anyway, I think a revamped service patch (more color, not less) and a snazzier website will get them more traction than a name change.

[Oak Tree]

Excellent job, Mr. Humphries. That'll do.