In the Press
Scouts for Equality Teaches the World What Scouting Taught Them
On 25, Apr 2013 | In In the Press | By Scouts for Equality
Organization Launches Online Video Campaign Calling for the End of Discrimination
Iowa City, IA – Today, Scouts for Equality (SfE) launched an online video campaign entitled “What Scouting Taught Us”. The campaign includes a series of videos that feature the four co-founders of SfE and highlight the lessons Scouting has taught them. All of the co-founders are straight Eagle Scouts who spent their lives as members of the Boy Scouts and have founded Scouts for Equality to encourage the Boy Scouts of America to eliminate the existing policy which discriminates against gay scouts and scout leaders.
“Through personal narratives the campaign shows that the lessons taught in Scouting instruct their graduates to be good citizens, to treat all people with respect and that the ban is antithetical to the true values they were taught as Boy Scouts,” said Zach Wahls, Eagle Scout and Founder of Scouts for Equality. Read more…
Zach Wahls Debates Opposition on CNN with Don Lemon
On 22, Apr 2013 | In In the Press | By Scouts for Equality
Scouts for Equality’s Executive Director, Zach Wahls, debates our opposition on CNN. The opposition tells the host, Don Lemon, an openly gay man and former Scout, that he is unworthy of being a Scout leader. Zach explains why the BSA’s proposed voting resolution is historic, but not enough for his moms.
Boy Scouts of America Releases Proposed Voting Resolution
On 19, Apr 2013 | In Campaign News, In the Press | By Scouts for Equality
Youth membership in the Boy Scouts of America is open to all youth who meet the specific membership requirements to join the Cub Scout, Boy Scout, Varsity Scout, Sea Scout, and Venturing programs. Membership in any program of the Boy Scouts of America requires the youth member to (a) subscribe to and abide by the values expressed in the Scout Oath and Scout Law, Read more…
Mormon Church Embraces Gay and Lesbian Brothers and Sisters
On 06, Dec 2012 | In In the Press | By Scouts for Equality
On Thursday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints launched the website mormonsandgays.org, in which it calls for Mormons of all stripes to “love one another.”
An official statement posted on the new website reads:
The experience of same-sex attraction is a complex reality for many people. The attraction itself is not a sin, but acting on it is. Even though individuals do not choose to have such attractions, they do choose how to respond to them. With love and understanding, the Church reaches out to all God’s children, including our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.
UPS Postpones Donations to the Boy Scouts
On 12, Nov 2012 | In Campaign News, In the Press | By Scouts for Equality
More bad news for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), as a major donor has announced plans to sever funding to the organization on account of a controversial anti-gay policy.
The United Parcel Service (UPS), Inc. will soon adopt a non-discrimination policy that disqualifies the BSA from future funding, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) reports. UPS follows the Intel Foundation in withdrawing corporate sponsorship from the BSA, GLAAD officials note in an email statement.
Read more…
Ryan Andresen Denied His Eagle Award
On 04, Oct 2012 | In In the Press | By Scouts for Equality
Ryan Andresen had recently completed the requirements to earning his Eagle Scout award, including his final project of building a “tolerance wall” for victims of bullying like himself, but his Scoutmaster would not sign off on honoring him with the Boy Scouts’ highest ranking because he is gay, his mother said.
Read the entire article: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/04/14224160-almost-eagle-scout-denied-award-because-he-is-gay?lite
United Way of Cleveland Pulls BSA Funding for 2013
On 25, Sep 2012 | In In the Press | By Scouts for Equality
Paul Clark, United Way’s board chairman, said the move came as a result of the local agency’s recent adoption of an equal opportunity and diversity policy for itself and its partner agencies. “I think they view their policy as one of protection . . . ,” Clark said. “I think the premise of the protection idea is that anyone who is homosexual is a pedophile. I abhor that. I think it’s indefensible.”
Read more…
United Way Drops Funding for PA Boy Scouts
On 28, Aug 2012 | In Campaign News, In the Press | By Scouts for Equality
“The last time we discussed the Boy Scouts’ compliance with our non-discrimination policy was in 2000,” UWCR president and CEO Joseph Capita said in a news release. “Over the last 12 years our community has changed and although we accepted the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy as meeting our non-discrimination policy 12 years ago, we no longer believe we can accept that position as complying with our policies.”
Read more…
Greg Bourke Ousted As Scoutmaster
On 06, Aug 2012 | In In the Press | By Scouts for Equality
In August 2012, the Lincoln Heritage Council and Boy Scouts of America forced me (Greg Bourke) to resign my position as Assistant Scoutmaster with Troop 325 in Louisville, KY. Despite five years of dedicated service to my troop, district, council and the BSA, it was determined that I had to go because I admitted that I was gay and as a result LHC said I “did not meet its membership requirements.”
I received unanimous support from my Troop, Troop Committee, Church, Scouts, Scout Leaders and Scout Parents. The local newspaper published both a news article and an editorial showcasing the discrimination I suffered at the hands of the Lincoln Heritage Council and the BSA. Last week, I received a special “Legislative Citation” from the State of Kentucky House of Representatives honoring me and my dedication to Scouting and service to my community.