End Game
On April 2 the Greater New York Councils announced that they hired Pascal Tessier to be a summer camp counselor. Normally hiring councilors for summer camp is not considered newsworthy, but Pascal is an openly gay adult Eagle Scout.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/nyregion/with-hire-boy-scouts-affiliate-in-new-york-defies-ban-on-gays.html?_r=0
The Boy Scouts current policy of "Don't Ask, Don't tell, Don't talk about it, and maybe it will go away" clearly isn't working.
The other widely supported idea is that negotiations are going on behind closed doors to build a consensus with the Chartering Organizations and current members of the National Board, but even if they reach a consensus this isn't necessarily going to fix the problem. We don't exist in a vacuum.
There are more Boy Scouts in Utah than there are in California. There are more eligible unserved youth in California than there are people of all ages in Utah. The future of the Boy Scouts isn't in Utah. The future is in that large gap between those who are in scouts and those who aren't being served.
I don't know how long it's going to take for the end game to play out. In the past National has spent millions of dollars on lawsuits to keep people out of the scouts. (Pascal already has a lawyer.)
It's time to stop waiting for National to fix the problem. Other council's can follow the Greater New York Councils' lead and adopt non-discrimination policies. We can help council's negotiate with the LGBT community.
How can you help?
1. Speak out. Let your council know that you want them to step up and do what is right.
2. Join Scouts for Equality. We're not the enemy, we're the future.
3. Wear the Inclusive Scouting Knot on your uniform. Let gay scouts know you've got their back. (Don't have one - e-mail me with your address and I'll hook you up with one.)
America needs scouting, by working together we can make scouting available to every family in America.
Please keep the conversation going...
Yours in Scouting,
Wendell Baker
SFE- Golden Gate
goldengate@scoutsforequality.com
Check out our Facebook page for information on the San Francisco Pride Parade, the equality summit in Colorado, and the fund raiser in San Francisco.
