The above is my version of a popular slogan from the sixties, “Hey! Hey! LBJ! How many kids did you kill today?” We heard it, and I chanted it, at anti-war protests during the Vietnam era, notably at the Moratorium on October 15, 1969, (officially the Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam) and a month later at the massive Moratorium march on DC. I’ve been thinking about that slogan ever since the Boy Scouts of America affirmed on July 17 that gay and bisexual boys are still not welcome to be scouts. There will be no entering the twenty-first century for this band of brothers.
Two days after the BSA promised to continue its policy of hatred and intolerance James Holmes went on a rampage and killed twelve people in a Colorado movie theatre, injuring dozens more. Along with most of the nation, I was saddened and stunned; I started to say “shocked,” but in fact, I wasn’t. This kind of shooting no longer shocks; it’s happened far too many times before.
Without denying for a moment the pain of the survivors and the families, I can’t help thinking that the Boy Scouts’ decision is going to cause far more than twelve deaths.
How many young men will take their lives because their dream of becoming a scout has been taken away from them? How many will be victims of anti-gay violence, supported by the BSA’s stand (“if the Boy Scouts don’t want them, they must be fair game.”) How many opportunities for education and growth will be lost because there will be no gay scouts to share their experience with their fellows?
The BSA chief executive, Bob Mazzuca said "The vast majority of the parents of youth we serve value their right to address issues of same-sex orientation within their family, with spiritual advisers and at the appropriate time and in the right setting.”
That sounds reasonable; families should of course have the right to discuss personal issues and deal with sexuality. But there are two things wrong with this argument: one, they DO have that right; allowing gay scouts in no way compromises a family’s right to talk about sexuality; second, families DON’T talk about sexuality. We all know that, yet our leaders continue to pretend that sexuality and sex education are normal dinnertime conversation for Jim, Margaret, Bud, Betty and Kathy.
Jim: “Bud, did you meet the new gay boy today? Do you find him attractive?”
Bud: “Aw, gee Dad, you know I like blondes; he’s not really my type.”
Margaret: “Now Bud, looks aren’t everything; he might be a very nice boy.”
Sorry, it just doesn’t happen that way. Many (most?) gay youth feel alienated and alone and would never consider talking to their parents about those feelings. My parents never talked to me about sex at all; I can only imagine the consternation my Dad would have faced had I come out to him as a gay teenager.
But wouldn’t it be great if there were an organization that boys -- all boys -- could turn to and learn their way through the craziness that is adolescence; an organization that accepted its members as they are; an organization that taught boys to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.
It would be great if such an organization existed. It’s a real shame it doesn’t.
An organization that does exist to help gay youth
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