More Anti-Gay BS from the BSA

Okay, so we all know the Boy Scouts of America are virulently homophobic. I mean, that story is as old as, well, almost any story. But they don't just dislike the gay kids who might want to join the BSA, they target the gay parents of kids who want to volunteer for the BSA.

They don't seem to realize:

♫♪ We're here

We're queer

And some of us have queer parents

Get used to it ♪♫ 

Last week the Boy Scouts of America told  Ohio mother Jennifer Tyrrell that she could no longer serve as a "den mother," even when no one else was available.

One night the then-current leader called Jennifer  Tyrrell  and said, "I can't do it." Suddenly, the troop had no leader, and not one other parent stepped up, so Jennifer Tyrrell did: 'I'll be the den leader." 

And she served as a den mother for a year until the local district council learned of her homosexuality, and then they told Tyrrell she had to leave her den leader position. 

"I feel like I've had a great year, I've bonded with my parents, my children, we've done a lot of really good things.  And in light of other circumstances, it was brought to the council's attention at a higher-up level that I was gay and I was forced to resign," added Tyrrell. 

Bob Drury, Scout Director with the Ohio River Valley Council, says, "almost all the positions within the [BSA] are volunteer positions.  They are generally moms and dads that are concerned with the well-being of their child, and they're willing to step forward and help out you know, other children as well."

And they can do exactly that unless, goddess forbid, they're gay.
The Boy Scouts of America, showing their complete lack of compassion and understanding, and not one iota of gratitude to Jennifer Tyrrell for stepping up, say they are within their first amendment rights to exclude openly homosexual persons from membership, pointing out that, in 2000 the Supreme Court agreed with them.

Just because it's a 'right' doesn't make it right.

And then Bob Drury added, "It's just something that has been determined to be a distraction to what the program is.  The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to develop character and leadership skills and the youth of today to become the leaders of tomorrow.  And anything that distracts from that mission distracts from what our program is."

I guess that, in addition to building a certain kind of character, the BSA also wants to breed a new generation of bullies and bigots.

Go to Change.org to sign a petition that the BSA reinstate Jennifer Tyrrell to the position she held for a year because no other parent, or at least straight parent, wanted.

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