|
I am not a curmudgeon nor cynical; far from it. I
just want to share with you, in tongue-in-cheek style, situations I feel that are less
than satisfactory in our present day life, both locally and globally. The following
editorials, and the opinions contained therein, are mine alone and I hope you take them
in the light they are given...light!
Scouting
vs. Values
or, why does someone think that a gay person is not moral?
The Wit and Tenets of Brad P. Scobey
First, before any brouhaha
towards this article, if you have not read my biography, let  me tell you that I am both an Eagle
Scout (and damn proud of it) and gay (and make no apologizes for that). By the Boy
Scouts of America® excluding gay members, I am excluded from teaching life.
I try not to get into too many
political disagreements, but this one hits too close to home for me to remain silent.
I feel as though I have become a contradiction; being who I am and being an Eagle
Scout at the same time.
I see it almost every day,
etched into my subconscious while driving behind some of my fellow drivers. You see,
here in Florida, we have a license plate that states "Scouting Teaches
Values". I could not agree more with that statement. But the license
plate, which has generated $343,566.00* in income through the end of 2003 is given to:
The Central Florida Council of
the Boy Scouts of America to be used by the nine Boy Councils within the state for the Boy
Scout programs.*
and was issued in response to
many organizations, corporations and government entities denying funding or freebies to
scouting due to their discriminatory behavior. So the three little words on the
plate has taken on a covert message. It tells me that by being gay, I cannot teach
value.
I do not know why a parent
would be afraid to have their son mentored, mentored in the truest sense, by any person
who is willing to selflessly take the time from their own concerns and care enough for the
human species to be a teacher, regardless of whether they are straight or gay in the first
place.
When young people need as many
wonderful role models and mentors as they can get, why limit their access to any
well-adjusted and caring group of people out of ignorance and irrational fear.
Ignorance is not bliss, it is constraining.
Brad
*Taken from The State
of Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website
Want to respond to my rant. Email me! |
