Boy Scouts Voting To Allow Underage Gay Members

Paralyzed by fear of alienating its conservative Christian members and paralyzed by a fear of continuing to piss off everyone else, the Boy Scouts of America has long refused to address its ban on homosexuality, but with the angry voices getting even louder, the organization has finally decided to take a stand. Kind of.

According to ABC News, the Boy Scouts of America has sent out a proposal to its roughly 1400 voting members asking them to remove the ban on underage homosexual scouts. If it passes, all children who want to be part of the organization, regardless of sexual orientation, will be admitted. All adults wanting to be scout leaders, however, still need to be heterosexual.

The measure comes on the heels of an exhaustive feedback campaign Scout leadership apparently engaged in with its members. After asking a large variety of questions on the pros and cons of keeping things the same, admitting all homosexuals or admitting underage homosexuals, the powers that be apparently decided this was the right course.

I get where the Boy Scouts are going with this, but based on the nature of the opinion, it seems like this will only piss off those on both sides of the aisle. Accepting underage scouts but then kicking them out after 18 sends a pretty bizarre message, and condoning homosexuality, even in teenagers, obviously won’t sit well with the far Right Wing.

Crusades for civil rights are always two steps forward, one step backwards.

We’ll keep you updated once the results of this vote come in.