Today, the Boy Scouts of America announced they will continue their ban on gay people at all levels in Scouting, as it “remains in the best interest of Scouting.” As we finalize our report which we will publish shortly, here are responses from equality organizations.
Human Rights Campaign
Chad Griffin, President:
“This is a missed opportunity of colossal proportions. With the country moving toward inclusion, the leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have instead sent a message to young people that only some of them are valued. These adults could have taught the next generation of leaders the value of respect, yet they’ve chosen to teach division and intolerance.”
GLAAD
Herndon Graddick, President:
“With organizations including the Girl Scouts of the USA, the Boys & Girls Club and the U.S. military allowing gay Americans to participate, the Boy Scouts of America need to find a way to treat all children and their parents fairly,” said Graddick in a prepared statement.
“Until this ban is lifted, the Scouts are putting parents in a situation where they have to explain to their children why some scouts and hard-working scout leaders are being turned away simply because of who they are. It’s unfair policies like this that contribute to a climate of bullying in our schools and communities. Since when is that a value worth teaching young adults?”
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Darlene Nipper, Deputy Executive Director:
“Clinging to a policy of exclusion and intolerance is hardly a good lesson for our young people. Once again, officials of the Boy Scouts of America have turned their backs on a chance to demonstrate fairness, exercise sound judgment, and serve as a role model for valuing others, free of bias and prejudice. This is deeply disappointing. Discrimination is never the right policy, period.”
Change.org has a petition you can sign asking the CEO of AT&T to urge the Boy Scouts to reverse this decision.
We’ll continue to update this story as reactions flow in.
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Times, like good wine, are supposed to get better with age, BUT NOT with the Boy Scouts of America. When I was a Scout in the 1930's (I am over 85), our Scout Master was a known Homosexual; YES homosexuality is that old in the USA; It was not invented yesterday. Our Troop at the time had four Patrols; one of "Queers", and three that were "Strait". No one; not even the Parents cared, or even seemed to take notice. Even at Summer Camp, where all of the County's Boy scout Troops attended, only the 20 something life guards wore bathing suits for the daily morning and afternoon swims in the lake. All the rest of us were stark naked. HOW SHOCKING!
Sexual Identity Confusion (Transgenderism, Homosexuality, Bisexuality) Caused by Emotional Trauma:
Peter Dimrock (MSW) said: "Many men who were sexually abused (especially those abused by other men), are CONFUSED ABOUT THEIR SEXUAL/AFFECTIONAL PREFERENCE." (The National Organization on Male Sexual Victimization (NOMSV) website)
Study: Homosexuality Linked with Childhood Trauma, July 26, 2010 — A recent Otago University study has found that homosexual or bisexual individuals are more likely to have undergone a variety of of traumas in childhood, including sexual assault, rape, violence, and witnessing violence in the home… suggesting that such experiences TRIPLED the chance of later professing homosexual or bisexual inclinations. One 1992 study found that 37% of homosexual and bisexual men attending sexually transmitted disease clinics had been encouraged or forced to have sexual contact before age 19 with an older or more powerful partner. The median age of first contact was 10 years old.
Homosexuality Caused By Emotional Trauma Says Medical Studies:
W.C. Holmes, MD said: "Abused [male] adolescents, particularly those victimized by males, were up to 7 times more likely to self-identify as gay or bisexual…"
Gay Suicides INCREASE in Gay-Friendly Nations:
Being supportive of the basic civil rights of gays and lesbians does not require a belief in the false notion that people are born gay. They are not. Homosexuality is caused by emotional trauma – from childhood neglect, abuse, or any number of traumatic causes.
If we love someone, we want to see them healed (from the emotional trauma connected to the homosexual feelings), not see them get married or join the scouts. In the Netherlands where gay marriage has been accepted for quite awhile now, has seen no decrease in gay suicide – in fact, some studies show an INCREASE.
If you do not promote emotional healing and resolution and instead choose to ignore it for your own selfish reasons, their blood is on your hands. Denying someone's trauma in early childhood is NOT loving – its an INJUSTICE.
Ex-Gay Says Homosexuality Caused By His Emotional Trauma Starting at Age 6:
Author and AIDS victim Jerry Arterburn said: "I was involved in the homosexual world as a blatant attempt to obtain the affection from other men that I did not receive from my own father." (from his autobiography "How Will I Tell My Mother?")
Due to his sensitive nature, he was more deeply affected than most boys when his own father rejected him early in life. Without a loving father figure, he yearned for affection from other boys by the age of six. His yearning became sexualized at puberty. He said being abused or severely neglected in childhood was "too common a thread to ignore" in the gay community and his female mannerisms were due to his mother, his only role model. He was NOT born gay.
We Must Promote and Pursue Healing and Wholeness, NOT Gay Marriage/Political Activism:
It DOES matter whether people are born gay or not. True and correct science matters.
And since homosexuality is caused by emotional trauma, ignoring this SCIENTIFIC FACT will result in more gay suicides. Emotional trauma requires healing and resolution and much love and understanding, not politics.
Telling someone who is gay that they didn't experience any emotional trauma and that they're just fine is completely insensitive at best and mean-spirited at worst.
Gay feelings come from emotional trauma early in life – this trauma can come in the form of being rejected by a parent, neglect, and overbearing parent, abandonment by a parent, and NEED NOT BE strictly physical or sexual abuse. Some studies from gay-friendly nations are showing an INCREASE in the gay suicide rate due to emotional trauma caused in early childhood and nobody cares. Denying someone's trauma in early childhood is NOT loving – its an INJUSTICE.
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