Just what Scouts need: being taught "values" by people who have none

Zach Wahls delivered a petition to the BSA earlier this year.

"In their eyes, this issue is now resolved and the book is closed. Indeed, they've even stopped answering calls from Fox News. . . .

"No secret committee is going to silence the thousands of scouts and scout leaders who want to see an end to this antigay policy. . . . Secret committees of 11 people do not and will not speak for more than 3 million scouts"

-- Zach Wahls, in an advocate.com op-ed,
"A Secret Committee Will Not Stop Us"

by Ken

Hate-mongering, conspiratorial secrecy, compulsive serial lying -- it appears that these are now the core values of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The upshot is that the youth of America are being taught "values" by a rampaging band of sociopaths and mental defectives.

I hope everyone remembers proud Eagle Scout Zach Wahls, the pride of Iowa, whose testimony before the Iowa House Judiciary Committee on the "family values" of the loving family he and his sister grew up in, a family with two mothers, riveted the country (I called my original post "Isn't young U. of Iowa engineering student Zach Wahls the embodiment of REAL family values?"), and whose activism since then has been ardent, smart, and tireless. (You can check out his webpage, zachwahls.com, and find his book [right] at Amazon.)

Now Zach has written an op-ed for The Advocate, "A Secret Committee Will Not Stop Us," which he begins by conveniently summarizing the latest hi-jinks behind the scenes at the Boy Scouts:

This week, the Boy Scouts of America made a huge national stir by affirming its anti-LGBT policy.

That is to say, they made a huge national stir by doing nothing new.

The only "new" thing about their announcement was the fact that they reached this "decision" by appointing a secret, 11-member subcommittee that "studied" this policy for "two years." This committee, that had a "variety of beliefs" on this policy, somehow managed to reach a unanimous decision. Twice. According to conflicting reports from the BSA, they first presented their conclusion back in February of this year. Then they presented it (again?) on Tuesday.

"The timing of the BSA announcement, however," Zach writes, "could not have been more politically expedient."

On Monday, 24 hours earlier, the BSA learned that the vice president of their executive board, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, had gone on the record not only opposing their anti-LGBT policy, but also committing to work with fellow board member Jim Turley, Ernst & Young’s CEO, to end it. A few hours later, they learned that Jennifer Tyrrell -- the gay den mother ousted from the Boy Scouts who rallied more than 300,000 people to sign her Change.org petition -- planned to deliver those signatures to BSA’s Dallas headquarters on Wednesday.

Clearly, somebody inside the BSA decided this was unacceptable.

Having learned that the resolution to end its policy of discrimination actually stood a chance of working its way through the BSA's executive board, the BSA dropped the hammer, trying to crush this grassroots movement to help the Boy Scouts become more inclusive and accepting.

In their eyes, this issue is now resolved and the book is closed. Indeed, they've even stopped answering calls from Fox News.

So far gone, then, is Boy Scouts officialdom, that even Fox Noise is treated as part of the enemy. But if Zach's infectious enthusiasm is anything to go by, the BSA pervs may find themselves terminally isolated. "Fact is," he writes, "the movement to end the BSA’s antigay policy is ramping up, and is poised to be stronger than ever."

No secret committee is going to silence the thousands of scouts and scout leaders who want to see an end to this antigay policy. We will continue to mobilize grassroots support from Eagle Scouts and others to transform scouting into an inclusive organization that values fairness and equality. That’s why, as an Eagle Scout, I’ll be attending the 100th anniversary of the Eagle Scouts at the National Order of the Arrow Conference July 30 through August 4 to rally current scouts and scout leaders to support an end to the antigay ban.

If the BSA is willing to circumvent its own internal process for progressing and growing as an organization, that's just fine. We'll circumvent them and take this straight to the grassroots. The BSA operates on a franchise model, after all, so there's really nothing they can do. Charter organizations (like schools and churches) give access to the BSA -- not the other way around.

Secret committees of 11 people do not and will not speak for more than 3 million scouts. Though the old guard at the BSA may be unwilling to change their position, we suspect that the young people actually involved with the organization all across the country will prove more thoughtful.

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