In the weeks leading up to the Boy Scouts of America's vote on dropping the anti-gay ban, communities of faith are speaking out. The problem for the media covering this is that faith communities are not saying the same thing. Who gets to represent the voice of faith when talking about the Boy Scouts proposed policy change?
David "Old Scout" McGrath and his son Joe will be biking 1,800 miles from their home to the Boy Scouts of America's (BSA) headquarters to urge the Boy Scouts to support a non-discriminatory policy for gay members and leaders. They have launched a new Kickstarter campaign to raise funds so they can document the process.
Filmmaker and Eagle Scout Todd Bieber is among the many people recently fighting for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to drop their anti-gay ban. With help from fellow filmmakers from The Onion and The Late Show, Bieber helped a troop of Scouts earn their Cinematography Merit Badge by working with them to produce a short film entitled "Attack of the Evil Mutant Scouts."
The NOH8 campaign has announced its plans to work with Jennifer Tyrrell, Ohio mom and ousted openly gay pack leader, on a new campaign. The NOH8 campaign is offering complimentary NOH8 photos to any Scout for equality who attends any upcoming NOH8 photo shoots in uniform and with a Scout ID to show their support for gay Scouts.
Scouts for Equality (SFE) is launching a series of videos discussing why it is so crucial for the Boy Scouts to work towards a full inclusion policy and drop their anti-gay ban. Their first video features Zach Wahls discussing his experiences as a scout with two moms.
Jennifer Tyrrell, together with GLAAD and Scouts For Equality, today launched a new petition to urge the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to completely lift its anti-gay ban on both youth members and adult employees and volunteers.
The Boy Scouts of America's (BSA) proposal to appease critics of its longstanding anti-gay ban, admitting gay youth but not gay adults, is a bad solution says David Meshulam, president of the Los Angeles Area Council for the BSA.
Yesterday, the Boy Scouts of America proposed maintaining its ban on adult gay leaders, while dropping the ban on gay scouts. Several faith leaders quickly expressed their disappointment in the proposed policy change. All faith leaders continued to call for a fully inclusive scouting program that included qualified gay leaders, even while some expressed joy that gay scouts would no longer be removed.
Today, the BSA released proposed language for a revised Membership Standards Resolution, which, if approved, would open Scouting to openly gay youth but would maintain the organization's ban on participation by gay and lesbian mothers, fathers and adutls.
More than 1,500 New Yorkers gathered today in Manhattan to mourn the death of a 32 year-old gay man, who was shot down on Friday just blocks away from the historic Stonewall Inn in an apparent act of anti-gay bias.
