Eagle Scout calls it Quits

Reprinted from APP.com:

Ihave chosen not to renew my membership in the National Eagle Scout Association because of the Boy Scouts' official policy of discrimination against gay people. I am ashamed an organization to which I owe so much has chosen to take such a myopic stance on this issue and hides behind a legal veil to exclude gay Scouts.

I hope my decision will prompt Boy Scouts of America executives to reflect on their narrow understanding of the terms "morally straight" and "clean." Scouts serve the public by doing good and by setting an example. They seek to better themselves and those around them.

As a youth member of Troop 142 in Middletown, with the Junior Leader Training Conference, and in the Order of the Arrow (Lodge 71), I gained many close friends who earned Eagle Scout. These were boys to whom I credit great courage, honesty and service. Some have grown up to identify themselves as gay men. They are men who have served in the armed forces and who have entered public service. These men embody the belief the American entrepreneurial spirit stands not for personal gain, but for the idea that any person can be a leader by his example and through his leadership can inspire others.

All of the Eagle Scouts I have known added to their communities in important ways, regardless of their sexual orientation. I fear the policy is driven by a shallow understanding of what it actually means to be gay.

As a boy in Scouting, I had no concept of "gay" or "straight," and most children are willing to accept differences if they see their elders accepting differences. It is possible, and necessary, that there be gay role models for young people. This would provide comfort to those young people struggling with the difficult questions of identity with which we all struggle.

I hope the Boy Scouts leadership will reconsider its stance.

Daniel W. Meyler

BROOKLYN

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Back in the early years, I remember having gone on plenty of scouting trips. It was a different world back then with totally different pressures. My father for some reason felt that I should be enrolled and at first I didn't understand or really want to be a part of it. The closest troop met at a church three blocks from the house. I can't say that I remember any of the troop members there well. My second troop had some of my high school friends there and had much more fun. They were fun times.

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