I’m a huge believer in equal rights for all, but with a few sensible exceptions. Women shouldn’t be permitted to play in the NFL. People associated with the Mafia shouldn’t be cops. And, homosexual men should not be employed as leaders in the Boy Scouts.
Some people will roll their eyes and say that’s pure homophobia. Like many folks, my wife and I have gay friends, male and female. I have a loving female family member who is gay. So, let’s put that to rest.
Considering the fact that we incarcerate people in prison for simply watching videos of child pornography in their own home, it shows we are serious about protecting children from sexual predators. NBC produces a successful TV show where reporters and police join together in sting operations, just to apprehend potential child molesters. (To Catch a Predator) We are really strong on protecting our children.
But…are we?
The gay movement has become so politically powerful, they have the clout to intimidate corporations to stem the flow of contributions to the Boy Scouts, one of the most widely respected and productive organization for kids in the history of the United States. Because the money flow from corporations like UPS, Intel and Merck is drying up in support of gay rights, the Scouts are basically being blackmailed to make a change in policy of excluding open gays from the Boy Scouts; a policy upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000. To believe that a pro-gay policy in the Boy Scouts is not going to lure potential predators is naivety at best, and stupid at worst.
Without question, the great majority of gays are absolutely not pedophiles. But, sadly, some are. The Boy Scouts already have a long history of sex abuse cases into the thousands, all perpetrated by men on boys. And, that’s while all rules were in force to exclude homosexuals from being a part of the Scouts. So why increase the risk, one iota?
According to statistics based on various studies, about 97 percent of predators who target boys are homosexual men. That’s not homophobia, that’s life.
A comparable parallel would be the Catholic church and their sordid history of sexual predators among the priesthood, all men I should add. The church is a place where predators can enjoy a trusting and familiar environment, which accounts for 89 percent of the settings for sex abuse against children. Between 1950 and 2002, there were 10,667 reported child victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests. Eighty-one percent of those victims were males. Virtually all those perpetrators were homosexual.
Being a male-only organization which provides trusting and familiar relationships, the Boy Scouts would be an attractive Mecca for lurid activity among children for predators who are so inclined. If only a handful of kids are ever victimized, it would signal a poor decision to have openly allowed gays employment in the Boy Scouts.
I’ve got news for the naïve. Sexual predators don’t wear neon signs on the hats that flash “I’m a sexual predator.” They act in stealth manner. Most predators are like you and me and our friendly neighbors, they blend among us, like Coach Jerry Sandusky and serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who had been a professional clown entertaining kids, and all those Catholic priests.
If the new policy of acceptance is implemented, I suspect we will see a future increase in sexual abuse problems as prohibitions are relaxed due to financial and political pressure. I also suspect the Boy Scouts will see a decline in membership as many parents will redirect their boy’s activities to other venues.
According to studies, approximately two million adult men openly identify themselves as gay. (The actual numbers are probably double, or more.) If only two percent of those numbers were pedophiles, it translates to forty-thousand potential abusers of young males. What is more important? The rights of gays or the rights of kids?
It’s one thing to be fair and equal in affording rights. It’s another thing to be unrealistic at the peril of children.
I have a big problem with homosexuals in the Scouts! Political correctness raises it’s ugly head!!!!
If Hugh Hefner paid me 100K a month to serve breakfast in bed to playboy bunnies in his mansion, I am sure I could do a really good job, and would not cheat on my wife.
You Sir, are either a liar, or have serious ED, or a dedicated homosexual with your hand in your pocket.
The problem is that the Boy Scouts are a religious organization, that for the most part is made up of sponsoring religious organizations. The National Committee is caught between a rock and a hard place that if they chose to allow Gay Scouts and Gay Leaders they risk losing the religious institutions that have a problem with Gays based upon religious beliefs. If they do not then some of the non-religious sponsoring group, Police, Fire and some civic organizations will be pressured to leave.
Several comments related to the topic Gays have the same rights as everyone else has in terms of hiring, firing, work etc. What appears to be the goal of the Gay community is the same special protected class that is enjoyed by the African-American community. It is not tolerable when it was set up and is not tolerable now.
I would also like to observe that Pedophiles are not gay, the tend to be sick individuals that pry on you boys and girls for sexual pleasure. I have never had a problem leaving my children in the care of a Gay person. If any thing the desire to protect the children was as strong or stronger than mine.
Chuck, you made a good point. however when I was a kid, many mango seasons ago, I do not rember religion being a part of scouting. Of course it was cutler ridge, Fla back in 1962. Marshal Frank was my homicide captain back in 1981. I was a rookie det. The man had a presence that waranted the title SIR. a title of respect. this comes from a grunt detective who learned a lot under his tutalidge. shelton merritt
As a formed Cub & Boy Scout I say let them start their own GSA (Gay Scouts of America). It can be anything they want.
I’m concerned the BSA will cave-in and that’s not what they were about prior to this.
Pedaphilia is not restricted to homosexuals, but that is not relevant in the cases being cited here. Sexual abuse of young girls is generally done by heterosexual males, but sexual abuse of young boys is generally done by homosexual males. You may notice that none of the Catholic priests mentioned in the church scandal molested young girls; they were almost always young boys. The Boy Scouts have been plagued with more than 1,800 cases of abuse of boys by Boy Scout leaders.
To deny the connection between homosexual predators and young boys is to ignore reality.
Why is it OK for the Girl Scouts to prohibit males from camping and other close activities with girls they might find attractive and yet the Boy Scouts cannot offer the same protection to their young boys. Most Mom’s and Dad’s do not let political correctness cloud their personal decisions when it comes to protecting their boys from harm and they will quietly find other activities for their boy. This decision will only hurt the BSA further. The Boys Scouts deal with boy at the age of Puberty. How will a homosexual Scout Master deal with an older boy who is still confused about his identity when the scout master finds that boy experimenting on a younger boy?
So, Chuck, when did the Boy Scouts become a religious organization.
As a former Boy Scout and Explorer that is a new one on me.
What this is about is the progressive agenda of political correctness and fairness.
Next they will remove the “Marksmanship” merit badge.
Let’s replace it with “Diversity Lifestyles”, after all that couldn’t harm anyone.
Sir you have forgotten your Boy Scout Oath:
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight
In my opinion, putting a known homosexual as a leader of a group of boys is putting temptation right in front of them.
I’m reading the intolerance of some to religious beliefs. If the Boy Scouts honor God, good for them. If you don’t want to join an organization that honors God, then don’t join. But stop forcing your beliefs on others. Those who believe homosexuality is a sin have as much right to that belief as do those who don’t believe that. We live in a society where some people believe groups should be forced to include homosexuals which is intolerance and bullying. If homosexuals want to have a scouting group, they have a right to start one and include whom they wish. To those of you who are intolerant, stop trying to bully and force everyone to abandon their religious beliefs and embrace whatever beliefs you have. The hypocrisy is staggering.
If you search your heart and mind to reveal to your self what these people do to each other, you must be disgusted and repugnant with the whole idea and it’s subscribers. Political CORRECTNESS IS DANGEROUS.
I spent 19 years as an adult leader in both Boy and Cub Scouts. All three of my sons were in scouts with the eldest achieving Eagle. Number 2 son went as far as Life ranking.
Let me give you another take on the subject. The Boy Scout program is a fairly well ordered organization which takes its lead from National but each troop is run by regular normal people, usually a father, but not always. We had interested adult non married men in our troop as assistant scoutmasters. There were no homosexuals that we knew of. As for a religious organization, horse feathers. Our country was formed “Under God” but the founding fathers were quite clear that we were an open country with separation of church and state. If anything, the BSA are a quai military group.
Now to my point. Anybody who has worked with children realizes they come in all sizes, shapes, and ability. The makes for a serious problem as the goal is development of children to responsible manhood. We want to see each child develop and achieve with none being left behind. Diversity among the children make this a monumental task.
The adult leaders may include specialists but that is not the rule. We are not rocket scientists, psychiatrists, doctors, etc. We do study problems and take seminars on a number of important essentials, such as first aid. We are not equipped to deal with specialized problems nor is that what the program is all about. I want to emphasize: The typical scout troop has enough problems dealing with “normal” kids and “normal” problems.
Adding homosexuality to the brew is going beyond reassonable limits. There are too many preconceived and varying notions about the subject. People’s reactions range from totally homophobic to totally liberal. Adding that to the scout brew will result in disruption and harm.
Considering the number of “straight” boys who do not enter scouts, those pushing the intrusion of homosexuality into the program are misguided. There are many organizations that operate without representation of some specifically identified set of people. Live with it.
I predict if the BSA votes to admit homosexual men into the organization in leadership positions, the ultimate result will be great harm to the program.
how about don’t ask don’t tell. Homosexuals are not child molesters, in my experience. I only had 26 years with the Miami dade police. Worked on several high profile cases. never saw or heard of a abuse case involving homosexuals. Have seen some brutal murders involving homosexual men. They were however, confined to ther own persuasion. Except for the people that preyed upon them. I am straight, have good gay friends. They do not flaunt thier sexuality, are friendly, and damn sure artistic.
Hello Marshall, I enjoy all of your writings whether I agree or not. They have all been food for thought. There was a very interesting segment on PBS, last nights evening . news, commentary by a rep from the Southern Baptist group and a scout member. It is a tough call for sure as our country becomes more liberated. I totally agree that gays,should have the right to marry, obtain benifits from spouses and should be free to serve in the military. I have many friends,as you do I’m sure, who have a different sexual preference but they are wonderful, law abiding individuals. I am not so sure about adoption,scouts, and the priesthood but then we would be treating them differently wouldn’t we. A very tough call since children,are all ready ;Adopted by gay parents, and exposed to priests. So what would be different, if you think about it, about the scout masters?
Is the BSA a government organization? Since when does this run amok govt. get to tell us what we have to do in the boy scouts, when tax dollars do not run or support it?
Many of the above writers have it – if the homosexuals want a scout group, start one of their own. While I am personally averse to that life style, and my faith calls it a sin, the libertarian in me says one has the right to do what they want to, and it is should be up to their own peril to do that, but having it FORCED on any private organization is repugnant to me.
Big brother keeps getting into our lives more and more. From drones to arm twisting the BSA to go against their credo. Makes you wonder if the stories about obamer and his gay escapades in Chicago are really true.
This is so idiotic it cannot even be discussed with a straight face…. no one can even begin to tell me or anyone else that if you put a queer in charge of young boys he is not going to try his hand, so why is this even being presented for the slightest considerations? This would be like putting a plate of raw hamburger in front of a pit bull that has not eaten in a week and thinking he is not going to try to devour it.
Has ever decent person in the USA gone completely mad to allow such to even be considered? This can only be an open invitation to disaster on the best of days.
So, what you’re saying is that putting 8-year-girls in front of all heterosexual men is also like putting raw hamburger in front of them? I mean, they like women, so they’re going to naturally molest little girls, correct?
Wow. I’d never thought of that! We need to get ALL male heterosexual teachers, coaches, instructors, etc. that work with young girls fired IMMEDIATELY!!! IT’S DANGEROUS!
I mean, this can only be an open invitation to disaster on the best of days!
Not hardly, a well adjusted heterosexual man can perform in almost any category and to a large degree disregards temptation of all sorts. A queer is destine to destine to fail and I will take most bets he can not resist the temptation. I have a “little” personal experience in this arena and I can tell you those people (queers) are a rare breed when it comes to temptation…they just can not resist over a period of time…..the candy is too sweet to them.
Having been a boy scout who attained the Eagle rank, I am proud to say that I belonged to a great organization with emphasis on religion and family values. I also got the Ad Alteri Dei award in the troop that was sponsored by the church. There were great leaders who taught us many different skills which I still utilize today 55 years later. My experiences at camps and being a camp counselor were some of the best times of my life. I visited the Philmont Ranch in New Mexico for two weeks and rode horses, camped, swam and did all sorts of outdoor sports and activities with other explorer scouts from all over the nation. I was also inducted into the Order of the Arrow as a brotherhood member and was required to do manual labor for eight hours without speaking a word. It was tough but we did it and did it by the rules. Never once, did I encounter anyone who appeared to be of any differenct persuasion than I was. It was a wonderful time of my life and would not want to have homosexuals as leaders of me, my troop or these young men. Don’t ruin a great insttituion by bowing to pressure to allow gays to become scouts and/or leaders. I am so tired of being made to feel guilty unless we bow to the pressure of being politically correct and allowing these homosexuals into all aspects of our lives. It has got to stop somewhere, let it be here.
I’m with you on this Marshall! And, I don’t agree that the BSA is a religious institution (as per of the inputs). I agree, if they want to get involved, form their own Gay version. Can’t anyone have anything anymore without the “minority” (in this case Gays vs.Staights) having majority rights?
We must protect our children. Some things need to be preserved.
Marshall,
As a former Parole & Probation Officer I estimate that I supervised approx. 3,000 convicted criminals during my tenure. Of that I recall only 3 who had significant scouting experience as a youth. That’s 1/10 of 1%. Unfortunately I can think of no other identifiable group with that low a criminal rate. Why anyone would want to fiddle with a group which has proven to provide such outstanding success with young people is beyond me. The number of queers, oops sorry, that’s politically incorrect I had under parole and/or supervision greatly exceeded the number of those with prior scouting experience.
I AGREE – WAS A SCOUT AND A LEADER – YEARS AGO — EVEN IN THE 70 TIES I WAS WORRIED ABOUT HOW TO DEAL WITH SEVERAL OF THE BOYS– AND I KNOW A GAY WHO HAS YOUTH IDEAS WOULD HAVE JUMPED ON THEM– THEY WERE TOUCH FEELY KIDS – HAD TO PULL THE OLD MARINE DRILL SGT ON THEM TO GET THEM RIGHT!!!
CONFLICTING RIGHTS: GAYS IN THE BOY SCOUTS?
By Marshall Frank on February 7, 2013 in Criminal Justice, Politics & Government, Social Issues
Does this mean that if you are a queer you are suppose to have some special “rights” and privileges that other people do not have??
MARSHALL, YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT AND FRUITY TOOTIES CERTAINLY DON’T BELONG IN THE BSA, BUT KNOWING THE DIRECTION OUR COUNTRY IS GOING, THEY’LL GET IN. QUITE FRANKLY, I HAVE REACHED THE POINT IN MY LIFE THAT I’M BEGINNING TO DISLIKE ALMOST EVERYONE. YOU CAN TALK UNTIL YOU’RE BLUE IN THE FACE, BUT PEOPLE IN GENERAL ARE COMPLETELY CLOSE MINDED AND CAN’T UNDERSTAND ANY OTHER POINT OF VIEW AND DON’T WANT TO EVEN HEAR IT. I HAVE FAMILY MEMBERS SO IGNORANT THEY DON’T HAVE THE INTELLIGENCE TO FIND THEIR ASS WITH BOTH HANDS..
Robert…thanks for making me laugh out loud, after reading your post. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with it all…including the fact that I am beginning to dislike almost everyone…funny in a way, but also very true.
Now, I hear the genius population in Michegan who are not paying their mortgages are selling their homes via short sale at ridiculously low price to close relatives (illegal, but hard to determine), who are then RENTING the homes back to the sellers…and the rent is being paid by the government, because the renters are broke, supposedly.
And if any of these cheaters get caught, not one damn thing will happen.
Ain’t fraud a wonderful thing?
Contrary to Shelton Merritt’s experiences, I was accosted twice before I was
eighteen years old. Since I was a pugnacious youngster whose first instinct
was to punch, the situation was stopped practically before it began. I
couldn’t believe my ears when more aware friends explained what it was all
about. Some 65 years later I still don’t understand nature’s aberration of
putting a woman’s brain in a man’s body and vice versa. I am neither
homophobic nor antagonistic to sexually confused people, however, there are
enough normal problems in running a Boy Scout troop without introducing
homosexuality to the mix. As an aside to Mr. Merritt, please don’t confuse
femininity with artistic capability. Most of the greatest artists in history
were heterosexuals.
Howard Bernbaum
No offense, but your article, in fact, reeks of homophobia, discrimination, and just not particularly intelligent thought processes. It would certainly be tidy to assume that male pedophiles are homosexuals because they like to target young boys, however, nearly all these cases involve men who are either self-identified as heterosexual and/or are married (see Penn State).
Following the logic in your article, I am assuming that you also feel that all heterosexual elementary school teachers should absolutely not be allowed to teach young children of the opposite sex, correct? I mean, after all, a grown heterosexual man (following your line of thinking) is attracted to grown women, so he may very well be tempted to molest his 8-year-old female students, right?
100% of men who molest little girls (and there are untold thousands of them in our country) are heterosexual. But we don’t deny all heterosexual men the right to teach, coach, and be in the company of litle girls. Straight men don’t want to work with young girls because they secretly want to molest them. Same goes for gay men wanting to work with boys. The vast majority of gay men who have wanted to be scout leaders were scouts themselves and are proud of the organization. That’s their impetus. It is not what your warped and narrow mind dirtily suspects.
Pedophilia is a complex mental disorder that has nothing to do with sexual orientation. You need to rethink your position on this one, since you’re dead wrong. Your gay family member must be ashamed and embarrassed of you. I would be.
Sorry Karen, where do you draw the line??
Speak all you want about this subject but homosexual lifestyles are against all human accords, all the way back to the beginning of time!!! You ever seen a bore chase another bore…..stallion chase another stallion,…. rooster chase another rooster?…..Well?
Like illegal aliens, how can anyone except a greedy politician get past the first word, “illegal”, to sanction anything thereafter?
Do not get me wrong, if we can cast aside the word “illegal” in ALL circumstances like some people have chosen to do when speaking of aliens in the USA, Obama circumventing the US Constitution, Holder ignoring numerous US Laws to prosecute, etc., etc. …no need to elaborate anymore because all reasonable people reading this dissertation knows what I am speaking of; the lets turn loose the dogs to operate in this “non-illegal” arena and accomplish some really good things for the USA…..such as, get rid of idiots, politicians and leaches on society. Are you on-board with this????????????