UK: Scouts get prepared for more gay recruits

[ScoutLass]

Not everyone is of an Abrahamic religion -- in America or scouting. And not everyone with those religions feels the same way on the issue, either. There is nothing in Hindu religious texts that bans or even mentions homosexuality, so not sure why you mention Hinduism. Just like Christians, Buddhists, etc, some Hindus oppose it and others don't.

 

But that's okay. If my moral roots, which go back 3,000 years, are shallow in your eyes, so be it.

[RememberSchiff]

Well be careful what you wish for... this change in the UK Scouting Association did not come without ...ahem...campaign "Promoting good sexual health in scouting", documentation "My Body, My Choice" and leader training.

 

http://scouts.org.uk/shis

 

http://scouts.org.uk/documents/EcommsDocs/MyBodyMyChoice.pdf

 

I'm "not prepared" to bring sex ed into scouting. Not comfortable with religion either. I consider both personal matters and prefer they be handled outside of scouting. IMHO, I think we should open the BSA to all youngsters and drop any religion and sex requirements/discussion other than "youth protection" from our program.

 

My $0.01,

[SeattlePioneer]

>

 

 

 

The Man Boy Love Association would be attacking you as a Puritan bigot for that before long.

[Garrison Cap]

There IS an alternative: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baden-Powell_Scouts%27_Association

 

...as long as we're talking about preserving our roots.(This message has been edited by Garrison Cap)

[83Eagle]

Since people think scouts is "gay" already, according to posts in this forum, does that mean we should have an "it's ok to be hetero" and a scout campaign?

 

Besides, when did sex factor so much into the youth levels of scouing? When I was a scout I didn't care about girls (or boys). Then again I left the program in my early teens so maybe I missed the phase at which boys sleeping together might have meant more than sleeping together.

[Pint]

Sometimes i wonder just what the publicity department at Gilwell (UK Scout association base) are upto.

The Gays issue is a non issue, as they have been allowed to join for quite a few years now.

As for the promotion of it all, my only issue is why chase minorities, when the real need is to target the majority - especially when it comes to recruiting adults from the general population to join and become Leaders.

 

as for other non affiliated ( ie non WOSM ) Scout organisations they are very much smaller in number, and the BPSA have had girls in longer than the main UK Scout Association.

 

 

[Chug]

I think this is more to do with newspapers trying to make a story than any problem with Gilwell.

[Chug]

As a UK Scoutleader I find this thread quite amusing. Do some people here really think that a young person who is just realising that his/her sexual orientation doesn't fit with societies norms is really going to choose a crowded tent to make a move on someone of the same sex?

 

BTW, here's a link to the actual Scout Association publication that seems to be getting some people so flustered;http://www.scoutbase.org.uk/library/hqdocs/facts/pdfs/fs185082.pdf(This message has been edited by Chug)

[BS-87]

@Chug -

 

Yes...

 

Unfortunately, the answer is definitely yes...

 

It doesn't matter if the tent (or cold concrete floor of a basement) is crowded.

 

It happens...

[Chug]

Then that really makes me wonder how American children get through school without being sexually molested. Or do you segregate everyone according to gender and sexuality on the offchance that someone might make an unwanted advance?

[KC9DDI]

BS-87, as a Wikipedia editor might say: [Citation Needed].

[BS-87]

KC9DDI -

 

June 11, 2004

 

I won't mention names or the location. But when you're either a witness or victim, you do not question that these things happen.

[moosetracker]

Happened in my troop.. A scout made advances on another, the attacker we removed from the troop, the attack-ee we could not convince to come back as he was totally humiliated and though everyone knew..

 

But, even with that example, it is not the point.. It is more the comfort level of all the scouts.. Our troop has pup tents that sleep 2, most of the troops at camporees have similar 2 man tents..

 

If you put a boy & girl together in a tent, most likely nothing will happen.. But, what would be the comments & whistles when the emurge the next morning.. If you put a straight guy with a guy who has defined himself as gay, the comments would be the same.

 

Now maybe you can put a lid on the teasing in the troop, but it is sure to get out & around at their school, and you can not put a lid on that.

 

We seperate boys from girls even if we trust the kids totally, and have rules upon rules upon overlapping rules to protect the opposite sex from each other.. Seems a little simplistic on our parts to just wave the sexual orientation of a gay man off, and not care a twit about the reputation of the straight man (or gay man for that matter) when we ask the two to pair up and sleep in the tent with each other..

[NJCubScouter]

Chug, you got it. Yes, SOME people here do think that. And I am sure that it does happen on very rare occasions, if only because anything that the human mind can conceive of happens at least occasionally. But on the whole, no I do not think it happens very often.

 

What I wonder about is this: What percentage of "gay teenagers" (many of whom are, as Chug points out, just in the process of realizing what their orientation is) even tell anyone about it? I have no statistics on the subject, but I do have an educated guess. At the age of say, 13 or 14, the number is probably very, very, very small. Not only would they not make an "advance" on anyone, they wouldn't even tell anyone. At the age of 17 the percentage of those who would talk about it is probably higher. And I am not talking about girls now (among whom I also suspect the percentage is higher at each age group.) I am talking about boys. I really don't think many of them are going to go around announcing it, especially when they aren't really sure yet themselves.

 

Let's try to remember that the BSA policy on "avowed homosexuals" is really primarily about adult leaders. I don't think the BSA itself is really sure how to deal with openly gay Scouts, and I doubt the subject presents itself very often.

[NJCubScouter]

And as I exit the thread after posting that, the ad on the right of the screen has the smiling face of Ellen DeGeneres. Oh wait, she's there again right now!

 

Too funny.