Posted by machine_easy2 on March 27, 2013, 2:23 am, in reply to "Scouting Policies"
I wanted to respond with something a little more heartfelt earlier, but didn't have the chance, do to lunch break time restraints. If you are familiar with my ramblings from the past, you know I am in favor or gay rights, and against discrimination of any kind. I think this rule the Boy Scouts have stuck to, is wrong. As a gay male, let me state as clearly as possible, the boy scouts are capable of teaching many things needed in the gay community. From esprit de corps, to being honest, hard working, and good with your hands. It would be a shame to deny boys the valuable lessons that can be learned in the scouts, merely because of a difference in sexual orientation.
Unfortunately, I have the another hand to justify their actions, I don't know it's a good idea to have boys, who are coming into manhood, having sleepovers, with boys who might be interested in them sexually, in the middle of the woods. At the age the Boy Scouts tend to serve, there is quite a bit of sexual curiosity floating about that adolescents mind. I was never I scout myself, but have dated a few guys that were... I will spare you the stories.
I have a fear, that people who would not have otherwise become homosexual, have, because of exposure to such things, in such a important part of their development. I'm not certain that the case, but I think it does hold some water.
In a completely de-sexualized environment, what the Boy Scouts are currently doing is completely wrong. The problems is they have many 12-18 year old members, and it's hard to ensure that kind of sterilized atmosphere, when you are trusting those boys to sleep next to each other, pretty much unsupervised. All boys at that age think about sex constantly, trust me, I was that age once.
on March 27, 2013, 2:23 am, in reply to "