GAY MEN don't have children unless they adopt some somalian or vietnamese kid to share with their life partners..so, why would they join the scouts??? most scout leaders are men guiding their sons along the trail... a kid wanders in a bicycle store to look at the cool bikes...gay men join the scouts to look at pretty little boys....call me what you want, thats how I see it.
Only partially true. I know of any number of gay men who have children, because they entered into a marriage
with a woman and then either left - or stayed and the wife was somehow ok with it.
Just because he's gay doesn't mean he doesn't have the necessary equipment - just considerably less *will*.
The Boy Scouts have very strict rules as far as adult interaction with the boys - by design, the scouts are a boy-led organization,
with adult oversight. That is the *point*. Yeah, you learn how to tie knots and start a fire, and you learn about nature and how
to shoot an arrow and cook outdoors and so on - but the point of scouting beyond the basics is leadership. Older scouts cannot
advance without taking on roles of leadership and teaching younger scouts. You CAN'T get to Star, Life and Eagle without positions
of responsibility. One of the primary maxims of scouts is, if you have a question, ask a *SCOUT*.
THIS is the part of scouts where I am sympathetic to the role for gay men - do you kick out a boy who comes out of the closet?
What a tough thing it is for a young man who realizes he is gay - and now must LEAVE something he's grown to love, such as
scouting.
Unlike SCHOOLS - I know of no situation where Scouts are ever taught anything about gay men. It's not relevant, and it shouldn't
be. Why should it have any bearing on an organization whose existence is based on things like fitness, outdoors, leadership and
preparedness? It's not a social society. However, I HAVE seen school curricula about homosexuality, and I don't see people bemoaning
it there.
I am sad to see that Scouting is losing membership. It has been the single best experience for my son in his ability to interact
with other boys. Nothing else - not church youth group or sports or school - has come close.