Many people say sexual orientation should not be a part of scouting, but aren't race, color, national origin, disability, or even right versus left handedness part of scouting?

Are scouts who are minorities discouraged from celebrating their heritage? Are we afraid to discuss the achievements of Blacks, Asians and Latinos? Do we ignore disabilities? Are left handed scissors prohibited?

Why do we automatically assume all kids are straight? We don't assume that all kids are white, or Christian, or right handed. Why do we make gay kids suffer and struggle with coming out? Why do we allow our scouts to bully a whole class of people without even knowing who they are? (This is what is happening every time "gay" is used as a slur.) Pretending everybody's going to grow up to be straight isn't being realistic or fair.

So why are rainbows so scary? What did a rainbow ever do to you? When Peter Brownstein and his son handed out pizza to the over-worked public employees at the county clerks office in Salt Lake City his rainbow neckerchief caused quite a controversy.  They were helping out on a day when the clerks office had a ten-fold increase in their workload. Isn't helping others one of our core beliefs? Troops get to design their own neckerchiefs, why should rainbows be forbidden?

CNN-Utah, Gay Marriage, Pizza, Boy Scouts 

When a child is being bullied he needs to know he can reach out to an adult for help. Unfortunately it isn't always safe for a gay kid to ask for help. Some adults will just respond with more bullying. ("Don't be so girly", "Man up", or worse.) Gay kids are 4 times more likely to try suicide than their straight peers. As adult leaders how do we let gay kids know that we've got their back?

Rainbow knots? Rainbow shoelaces?

Maybe we should just tell them.

There is a real resistance to talking about sexual orientation. It doesn't help that adult gay role models are prohibited as leaders in scouting. We're told that we shouldn't discuss it. Even discussing it with other adult leaders is discouraged. But if we don't discuss it, how are things going to get better?

OK, I answered my own questions. I need to find the courage to tell them that as far as I'm concerned it's OK to be gay, and if anyone is being teased or bullied I'll do something about it.

In my case this won't come as a surprise to anybody. I've been pretty vocal. All of our adult leaders, the adult committee, our chartering organization, the PLC, and all of the parents know I feel this way.  But I've never actually told this to the whole troop.

If you haven't talked to the other adults in your troop about this, you need to. I know it's a hard discussion to have, and people will differ in their opinions. But the welfare of the scouts needs to come first and we need to protect our gay scouts from bullying.

It's the right thing to do.