My friend Tom was 15 when he came out. He told me over AOL Instant Messenger. I was sitting at my parents’ desktop computer, possibly downloading Joni Mitchell’s “Court and Spark” track-by-track from Napster — it took so long that I finally left it running overnight and hoped for the best. Tom…
David and I connected tonight over Twitter about this. He does an infinitely better job at describing Boy Scouts of America’s colossal fuck-up than I ever could, but I’ll offer up my speech I’ve said a couple of times this week:
As an Eagle Scout for close to 9 years (I got mine two days before my 14 birthday - not an easy task, mind you), this is flat out embarrassing. I hope that some of these Scoutmasters decide to not exclude scouts from their respective troops. I’m sure if Dad were still around and still a Scoutmaster at our local troop, he would have ignored this and kept on creating an environment for young men to learn and thrive.
The experience I had during my Scouting career played a significant role in shaping my character today. Hate for ANYONE to miss out on that because of sheer ignorance.
Go read what David has to say. It’s well worth your time. Perhaps I’ll have something better to say when it’s not 1:15 AM.
