School Board Says 'No' To Homophobic Boy Scouts Group

I was lucky when I lived in Florida, in that I lived in South Florida, which is nowhere near as homophobic as many places farther north in the state. So, I was pleasantly surprised to read that the Pinellas County School Board had decided to cut ties with an educational program affiliated with the Boy Scouts because of the program's discrimination against gay people.

Board Member Linda Lerner, who has been asking the board\to split from the “Learning for Life” for the last ten years, is happy to now send a very "strong message to the Boy Scouts." Lerner added, "I was pleasantly surprised, and I believe that it is so good for our district for our educators, students, and citizens, gay and straight."

"Learning for Life" is a character education program in schools. It teaches students values like respect, responsibility, honesty and fairness. But is its affiliation with the Boy Scouts, who believe that homosexuality is inconsistent with its values, that finally forced the school board to take their $54,000 grant and apply to another program, "Commitment to Character", that isn't homophobic and discriminatory. Building character is a a good thing, but how can you build character when you work to discriminate against a segment of society? 

Like I said, nice to see this taking place in Florida, where LGBT rights are often ridiculed and ignored.

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