Gay Scouts?

Less than six months after upholding its policy excluding homosexuals from leadership within its organization, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) organization appears poised to abolish the policy when its executive board meets on Feb. 6. A brief notice on the BSA website states the 103-year-old icon of American boyhood could defer matters of leadership qualifications to local councils, a move rife with legal and moral implications.

“This is a major mistake the Boy Scouts are considering. I don’t know what [they] think they will gain from changing their policy,” said Jonathan Saenz, an attorney and president of Texas Values, an Austin-based non-profit that defends values and laws related to faith and family in Texas.

Saenz said fundamental principles of freedom of association are at stake. Pressure to conform to the demands of homosexual advocacy groups continues against the BSA despite the 2000 United States Supreme Court victory upholding the private organization‚s right of free association, allowing the group to select leaders according to its moral standards. If the organization “caves,” freedom of association matters will no longer be fought in judicial courts but the court of public opinion, Saenz concluded.

The legal implications of deferring leadership qualification policies from the national office to the local councils will depend on the details of a new rule, Saenz said.  He believes the Supreme Court decision would apply to local Scout troops that choose to maintain the current policy. But he expects they will find themselves vulnerable to costly litigation intended to force conformity to the national standards.

In a move that seemed to stymie opposition, the BSA executive board last July reaffirmed the long-standing policy of disqualifying homosexuals as troop leaders. At the time BSA spokesman Deron Smith told the TEXAN, “The BSA values the freedom of everyone to express their opinion and believes to disagree does not mean to disrespect.”

Chip Turner, chairman of the BSA Religious Relations Committee and former president of the Association of Baptists for Scouting, would not speculate on why the issue has re-emerged but said some organizations, including some faith-based groups, continue to press for change. Turner expects his committee to hear a presentation of the proposal when all national BSA committees meet on Monday in advance of the executive board meeting.

The Religious Relations Committee will not vote on the measure but could pen a resolution opposing it and present it to the board for consideration before Wednesday’s vote, he said.

Weighing in on the potential ramifications, Frank Page, Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee president, urged BSA leaders to stand on principle and not bow to pressure to change policy. In a conference call to BSA Chief Executive Wayne Brock, BSA President Wayne Perry, and BSA National Commissioner Tiko Perez, Page warned faith-based organizations that sponsor the majority of Boy Scout troops may withdraw their support.

According to a report by Baptist Press, Page told the leaders, “I believe this will be a death blow to Scouting. … I think this is a self-inflicted wound.”

Saenz predicted the move could trigger a mass exodus from the organization by individuals and churches opposed to the change.

“What a tremendous ministry opportunity we would be turning our backs on,” Turner added. But if the BSA executive board votes to remove the sexual orientation standard from its guidelines, disassociation by individuals and churches would be an understandable reaction, Turner admitted.

Homosexual advocates opposing the policy claim BSA is forced to “adopt the theology of the largest users of the organization,” Turner said. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints make up the largest component of Scout troops with United Methodists, Catholics, and Baptists filling the ranks behind them. Of the 2.6 million members of the BSA, 1.8 million affiliate with a faith-based sponsor.

Leaving leadership standards to local chapters is not a “cut and dry” proposition, Turner said.  Associations among troops could be fractured with the establishment of differing leadership policies. Adult supervision of joint campouts will become a point of contention for families and their Scouts.

The BSA has stated that sexuality is a topic for the home, guided by a family‚s values and faith. Homosexual leadership foists the issue upon a local troop where different views may prevail.

But of primary concern to Turner, dissolution of the sexual orientation policy violates the Judeo-Christian morals on which the BSA was founded, he argued. Though not strictly a religious organization, the Boy Scout oath taken by all Scouts states, “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country.”

The Boy Scout law concludes with the promise to be “reverent.”

 “There are some people who will stop at nothing to force their morality on people of faith. The homosexual community wants total vindication of their lifestyle. They are not entitled to that,” Turner said.

Saenz said the Texas Values office received numerous calls and emails from people concerned about the proposed change. He believes the Boy Scouts underestimate the support they have to stand their ground and the societal ramifications if they do not.