Scouting for a Way to Come Out

The Boy Scouts value honor — except for when it comes to being honest with who you are

By O’Brian Gunn

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) was founded on the idea of fostering the seeds of leadership, positive values, independence, and good morals in the hearts and minds of young men across America. The Scout Oath states that scouts will keep themselves “physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.” In recent years, it’s become apparent that scouts are also required to keep their sexuality as straight as their morals.

Today, the BSA’s original mission and aims are relatively unchanged. The organization is one that easily resembles a family and a community of individuals who are committed to helping young men become totems of a better today working to create an even better tomorrow. Just as there are bound to be members of a family who are gay, the BSA will undoubtedly have gay members … and just as parents may reject their gay son or daughter, the same is true of the BSA.

The Ban

In the past, adult men were banned from becoming involved in the Boy Scouts if they were openly gay. The main reason for this opposition was that the BSA believed gay men went against the very core of the Scout Oath and weren’t the type of role models the organization wanted scouts to be influenced by.

It was only last year that the BSA decided to lift the ban — or at least part of it — and allow openly gay youth to become members. One major caveat to this decision: when openly gay scouts reach the age of 18, they are forced out of the organization, forced out of what some scouts might’ve seen as their second family.

The decision to alter the ban didn’t come without more than a few brushfires from opponents. Several corporate BSA sponsors with nondiscrimination policies pulled funding from the organization because of the BSA’s discriminatory stance. When he learned that the Scout’s policy had been lifted, Alabama Pastor Greg Walker decided that scout troops would no longer be allowed to meet at his church. Other open opponents of the new policy include Texas Gov. Rick Perry; radio host and member of the American Family Association Bryan Fischer; and John Stemberger, who is the founder of a Christian alternative to the Boy Scouts called Trail Life USA.

It seems no matter what they do, the BSA is at risk of upsetting someone. Some might say they now have firsthand experience of what it’s like to be gay: welcomed with open arms in some circles, callously cast out in others.

Products of the Boy Scout Environment

It was in the fifth grade that Ryan King and his friends wanted to start a Boy Scout group, and also when Ryan began his love affair with the outdoors. He loved being a scout, and does to this very day as a man in his thirties. He describes the BSA as a “leadership development laboratory.”

As far as there being any outward signs that gays weren’t allowed in the Boy Scouts, he says “it was never talked about.” When he discovered that he was gay, Ryan had reached a point where his scout-hood was “part of a fabric of who I was. I didn’t want to give it up.” Even with the BSA’s ban, Ryan, who was on the National Executive Staff of the organization, still feels that it’s a great leadership program, but that the organization doesn’t fully realize what they’re doing to their gay members.

If the BSA is concerned about the values that adult gay troop leaders might instill on younger scouts, all they have to do is look to Zach Wahls. Zach is an Eagle Scout who was raised by a lesbian couple. In 2011, a 19-year-old Zach gave a now-viral speech before the Iowa House Judiciary Committee in opposition of a resolution to end civil unions in the state of Iowa. Both Zach and Ryan are prime examples of not only how the BSA can help shape young men, but also how the gay community can influence who you are and what you become. It’s truly a wonder that the BSA doesn’t want Ryan, Zach’s mothers, and other brave scouts like them to help other scouts become better members of society.

Community Outreach

In May of this year, President of the BSA and former Director of Central Intelligence Robert Gates gave a speech at the organization’s National Annual Meeting where he expressed his desire for the BSA to be “far more aggressive in recruiting Hispanic, African-American, and Asian-American community leaders.” While Gates is in full support of gay scout members and scoutmasters, it’s obvious he would like to add more color and diversity to the organization, and color is the very essence of the well-known symbol of the gay community: the rainbow flag. Why not go straight to the well if it’s water you want?

New Steps in an Old Dance

While some might feel otherwise, the BSA is taking steps, and in some ways half-steps, to be more inclusive. The BSA National Council, at one point, proposed that chartered organizations be allowed to decide whether or not they would allow gay troop leaders, but the proposal was essentially a compromise that never saw the light of day.

Scouts for Equality

Scouts for Equality is an organization that is comprised mostly of BSA members who seek to fully end the organization’s ban on gay members and leaders. This past NYC Pride March, the group served as Color Guard and spoke out against the BSA’s banning practices. What’s so significant about this move is that the BSA has stated in the past that wearing a Scout uniform during a Pride event is a violation of their Oath and Law. For now, it’s unclear as to what, if any, consequences the group will face.

Ryan might not be alone in thinking that this issue hasn’t hit the BSA in the pocketbook enough for them to truly think about the message they’re sending to gay youths who aspire to become scouts. In some ways, the BSA may be doing gay scouts and scoutmasters a favor by making them feel like second-class citizens and showing them how to be first-class pioneers of the Great Gay Wilderness.