>Please don't get me wrong: I appreciate and support a
>good portion of what the Boy Scouts accomplish and
>stand for. And, since this is a policy issue for the
>Minneapolis school district, I hope that this forum is
>a suitable place to discuss this.
The Boy Scouts do alot of good for at risk youth. They also have every
right to use whatever membership criteria they want. However, folks who
fund the boy scouts also have a right to determin whether the Boy Scouts
membership criteria is in conflict with the funder's mission. The Boy
Scouts of America decided to take this case to the Supreme Court, and the
Supreme Court decided in their favor. It sounds like the BSA councils here
in Minnesota are very divided on this issue. I'm curious what would happen
if an openly gay person applied to be a scout leader in Minneapolis? Would
the Viking Council prevent that? Anyway, there are several school board
members on this list--but no one has answered the question....what will the
all DFL Minneapolis School Board do about this? Has this issue been
discussed? Will they follow the example of our Commander in Chief, and
Commander in Chief Wannabe, Al Gore?
>At the same time, many other youth organizations (such
>as the Girl Scouts--who vow to serve God--and 4-H)
>have shown the ability to pursue good public deeds and
>build ethical/moral character without rejecting people
>on the basis of sexual orientation. I respect the
>BSA's right to limit its membership: that's their
>privilege. However, our city should only support
>those Boy Scout troops that abandon the national
>organization's chosen path of discrimination.
Scouts Canada also doesn't discriminate. According to an op-ed in the
Strib, a woman active in the scouts here in Minneapolis tried to affiliate
her troop with Scouts Canada rather than the BSA--but I guess Scouts Canada
won't touch it. I wonder if the BSA lawyers went after them.
The other issue is the BSA board has done some fundraising appeals to far
right lists to get help for their legal case with the Supreme Court. I'm
sure those within the organization are tired of this issue, and wish that
the BSA board nationally didn't put themselves into the center of this
fight.
As I understand it, local BSA councils can pass resolutions on this issue.
It will be interesting to see what the Viking Council does.
Eva
Eva Young
Mpls., MN
