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The Wright Perspective℠
Social Commentary from the C-Suite to Main Street℠
A Blog by Gary Wright II
Boy Scouts leaders should be ashamed of no honor
Friday, October 22nd, 2010
I think that Boy Scouts / Cub Scouts / Girl Scouts is an excellent program for our youth - with one exception: leadership. The leaders are racists, homophobes, hypocrites, and bigots who are poor role models for children. They are an embarrassment to an organization that supposedly holds honor in high esteem.
Whenever a business or organization behaves badly, I organize a boycott against them to express my disapproval. My boycott against the Boy Scouts started several years ago when I discovered they were forging their membership records. Their reports showed they were racially diverse, yet there actually were very few minorities in the organization. The false reports were first discovered in Georgia and Mississippi, but an investigation showed the problem was distributed throughout the country.
The next disgrace to Boy Scout honor came when the leaders began excluded gays and lesbians from the organization. Not just gay kids, but gay parents were not allowed to participate. This week in Texas, the gay father of a 9 year old Cub Scout was forced out of a leadership position and told to quit wearing shirts that support the Scouts.
Also this week, a North Carolina couple had their leadership application rejected because they are Mormons. Shouldn't the Scouts be teaching diversity and inclusion instead of blatant discrimination?
In 2000, the US Supreme Court ruled in a 5 to 4 decision that a private organization can set their own membership standards. I believe that as long as an organization receives federal funding, they should not be allowed to discriminate for any reason.
These groups have so much to offer our communities, but their leaders are fostering hatred and discrimination which tarnishes the whole principle of Boy Scout honor. The saddest part of this story is the fact that the kids are the ones who will suffer from the lack of integrity of an otherwise wholesome organization. Until their leadership changes course, I will continue to boycott the Scouts and all of those who provide funding.
Best regards,
-- Gary Wright II