Boy Scouts

[Phoebe]

Hey - in Good News Monday stuff: Boy Scouts will admit kids based on who they say they are, not some kind of "birth gender" rule.

[Mike]

Damn skippy. I'm so happy. Girl Scouts did this long ago and blazed the trail for us. Now we're on the right side.

[Phoebe]

It's especially sweet because I have a little guy who will soon be old enough to join a troop.

[Stan]

I remember some groups trying to create an alt-right boy scouts over the the acceptance of gays in scouts. Are those still around, did they fade away, or did most of them decide to stay with scouts.

[Cazmonster]

Good on the Scouts. My guys were never going to be part of a pack or a troop and that is okay. I enjoyed my time as a Scout as did Barb.

[El Jefe]

As Mike mentioned on FB, the next one they need to deal with is the don't ask/don't tell style policy for leaders. I'll be glad to see some of my donations head back their way when that happens.

[Mike]

It'll happen soon enough.

Then we need to eliminate the distinction between Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and just have Scouts.

[El Jefe]

I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Mike]

There were discussions at the National level of Boy/Girl Scouts about two years ago (if I remember this conversation correctly) where they examined the possibility of merging. It makes sense on so many levels. There are so many Scouting facilities and resources that are only used part of the year, and direct sharing would mean fuller use without duplication of resources. Reduction in overhead of management and infrastructure. Sharing in the fundraising. (I always say the best reason is so that we get a taste of that sweet sweet cookie money).

On the larger scale, it simply means equality. That's the big thing for me. There's no reason that we run two different systems with different requirements and expectations on children based on their gender. To hell with that. But what it will come down to is the economics. Once we've talked enough and as younger people increasingly take on leadership roles, it will happen. It probably won't affect my kids... I'm done with Scouts in six or seven years... but it's coming.

As for openly gay Scout leaders... that's coming even sooner. We already have examples of openly gay Scouts who have achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, and then on their 18th birthday, they apply for leadership and are denied. One day they are granted the highest honor that a Scout can achieve and are told that they are shining examples of everything that Scouting stands for, and the next day, they are kicked out because they aren't good enough. All because they turned 18. That hypocrisy will not be able to stand for long.

[Phoebe]

I think they have boy/girl scouts already and they call it 4-H. Ha ha ha

[Mike]

Nothing funny about it. 4H is the example I bring up every single time someone starts questioning me on the difficulties of serving boys and girls together in this kind of program. 4H is a wonderful example of the possibilities.

[Mike]