Boy Scouts of America Decision to Revoke Charter of Gay-Inclusive Church

GLAAD, the nation's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization, today responded to the Boy Scouts of America's (BSA) decision to revoke the charter of a Seattle-area church due to its continued support of an openly gay Scoutmaster.   
 
On March 31, the BSA notified Chief Seattle Council Troop 98 Scoutmaster Geoffrey McGrath that his registration would be revoked because he is gay. However, the Rainier Beach United Methodist Church, which charters Troop 98, said it would stand by McGrath and allow him to continue his duties as Scoutmaster. As a result of its continued support, the BSA on Thursday stripped the church of its charter.

In a letter dated April 17, Steven P. McGowan of the Boy Scouts of America's General Council notified the Rainier Beach United Methodist Church that its charter would be revoked:

"As you are aware, the policy of the Boy Scouts of America does not allow open or avowed homosexuals to serve as adult volunteer leaders [...] Nevertheless, Rainier Beach United Methodist Church has stated that it will not remove [McGrath] as a leader and will continue to allow him to serve as an adult leader in violation of the charter agreement and the policies of the Boy Scouts of America. As a result of this refusal to comply with the policies, guidelines, rules, and regulations of the Boy Scouts of America, Rainer Beach United Methodist Church is hereby advised that it is no longer an authorized chartered organization and may no longer use the Scouting program or any of its registered marks or brands."

"That the Boy Scouts of America would punish a church and the young people of Troop 98 because the church's core values emphasize fairness and equality for all of God's children is simply unconscionable," said GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. "The fact that the Boy Scouts of America chose Easter weekend to once again blatantly discriminate against gay and lesbian people, as well as the churches that support them, flies in the face of the values of Scouting and sends a hurtful message to youth."

The MileHighGayGuy Year In Review: 2013 - The GAYEST Year in American History?

By Todd Craig

It occurs to me that now is as good a time as any to be gay. In fact this past year, 2013, has been anything but unlucky for us. History, when it looks back on this year, will have no choice but to view it through rainbow-colored glasses.

With that said, it’s time to crown 2013 as the GAYEST Year in American History.

Why? For decades it seemed that our progress and acceptance had been limited to certain areas: New England states, the genre of dance music, and Bea Arthur sitcoms to name a few primary ones. But 2013 has seen major changes in our LGBT favor in areas that haven’t traditionally changed very easily at all. Let’s review the good news, shall we?

1. Back in June, the Supreme Court took on DOMA and kicked its worthless, discriminatory ass out of the federal law books of our country. Sure, it wasn’t the wide-ranging decision that many activists had hoped for, but those sneaky Supremes made it abundantly clear what can and can’t happen in regards to marriage law, and in so doing gave attorneys everywhere a step-by-step plan for eviscerating every gay marriage ban in the country. Utah, New Mexico, Hawaii, Indiana, and New Jersey all began marrying same sex couples in the six months after the ruling. Of course, we here in Colorado aren’t quite so active, but at least we can appreciate the victories of others while we wait.

2. Second to the Supremes, we gays took a big leap forward when the newest Pope uttered the words, “If someone is gay, who searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?” With that one phrase, Pope Francis hit a control-alt-delete on years’ worth of fear mongering, hatred, intolerance, and well, judgment from the Catholic 
hierarchy and their followers. Of course, he also added that homo-sex is still a sin, but whatever. Catholics, both old and young, have a new leader and a new perspective, which has given rise to such stories as this one from last week about students at a Catholic school protesting the forced resignation of their vice principal for marrying his husband.

3. Not only did the Catholic Church backpedal on their fight against all things gay, but so did the Mormon Church. Mormon history, when it came to us gays, is one filled with hideous examples of shunning and cruelty, a persecution ironically not unlike what many early Mormons went through. In their checkered past the Mormons have never been the most inclusive, only allowing African Americans into their flock in 1978, and their attitudes and actions towards LGBT folk certainly weren’t much better. The high point of Mormon involvement in gay hating came with the passage of Prop 8 in California, much of which was credited to the financial and vocal support of the Mormons. Yet, for winning the battle, they lost the war, as was brilliantly written on Mother Jones here. Consequently, the Mormon Church, like the Catholic Church, is preaching a new perspective based on inclusion and love. Sure, they and their members still have a ways to go as seen with whack-o sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card, but then again, every step forward is a step in the right direction.

4. The Boy Scouts of America also took a step into the 21st century with their decision to allow gay scouts to participate in their ranks. Their hardline stance against gays earned them nothing but bad press, dwindling participation, and lost donors. While the decision disappointed many who wanted acceptance of gay scout leaders, too, the pressure is still on the organization to continue expanding its inclusive ways. This has been seen in recent stories about aircraft giant LockheedMartin withdrawing their financial support as well as in smaller contexts as with this church in Cheyenne, WY who refused to allow its building as a meeting place over the continued banning of gay scout leaders.

5. When it comes to the music industry, we gays have both been loved and scorned – often times by artists on the same top 40 list. This year though, two artists made big splashes in genres where LGBT people aren’t usually celebrated, much less sung about. For the better part of the year, listeners couldn’t turn on their radios without hearing Macklemore’s Same Love while the video garnered over 100 million hits on YouTube alone. The rap song about inclusiveness and the love of queer folk would have been unheard of years ago, and yet in 2013 it’s a career-launcher. Similarly, no one’s ever started a country music career with a song about two boys falling in love while drinking around a campfire, but that’s exactly the trick Steve Grand pulled off this summer when his All-American Boy video went viral. 


 
So as 2013 draws to a close, it’s important to step back and appreciate our progress this year whether it be in the federal law books or on the R&B music charts. We may not have equality for all in 2013, but we’re a helluva lot closer than we were in 2012. Our federal laws have changed. Our biggest opponents have evolved in their attitudes and actions towards us. We have gay-proud faces and role models in communities where they have always remained hidden and silent.

And that progress is certainly history in the making and well worth celebrating.

Growing Number of Companies Adopting Non-Discrimination Language For Funding Requests

The UPS Foundation recently decided to join a growing number of corporate leaders in providing financial support to those organizations that align with the company’s non-discrimination policy. The UPS Foundation had reviewed the policy for several months and last week posted the following on its site:

The UPS Foundation seeks to support organizations that are in alignment with our focus areas, guidelines, and non-discrimination policy, says GLAAD. UPS and The UPS Foundation do not discriminate against any person or organization with regard to categories protected by applicable law, as well as other categories protected by UPS and The UPS Foundation in our own policies. These include, but are not limited to race, gender, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran or military status, pregnancy, age and religion.

UPS confirmed to GLAAD that under these guidelines, which UPS said have been in development for several months, organizations that are unable to attest to having a policy or practices that align with the Foundation’s non-discrimination policy will no longer be considered eligible for funding. UPS has consistently received high marks on the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) Corporate Equality Index, an annual survey that rates U.S. corporations on their non-discrimination policies and practices toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees and consumers.

“More and more corporate leaders are enacting strong non-discrimination policies for practices including grant funding and hiring. Equality is not only good for business, but supported by a vast majority of Americans,” said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick.



Read more after the jump.

Editorial: Sign the petition asking Denver Area Council of Boy Scouts of America to reject anti-gay policies

By Tammie Weitzman

We, the Scouts and community members of Thornton, Broomfield, Westminster Colorado urge the Denver Area Council to reject the Boy Scouts of America's anti-gay policy.

I find it actually is the opposite of what scouts claims to be for, teaching boys to respect differences amongst all people. Things like being fair, to do your duty to God and your country, to help other people and take care of out community. Everyone also interprets God in their own way, Scouts can earn their religious badge for Buddism, Muslimism as well as Christianity.

Among service organizations, the Boy Scouts are increasingly isolating themselves with their discriminatory policy. Organizations including the Girl Scouts, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, as well as the 4H Club all welcome gay kids as well as adult leaders. Boy Scouts in other countries do not have an anti-gay policy, I believe it is time to end this practic here in America

We love the Boy Scouts, but we can’t support this policy. That's why we urge you to speak out against the ban on gay Scouts and leaders and adopt an inclusive policy like other troops, packs, councils, and lodges across the country have done -- so the Boy Scouts can maintain its relevancy, improve recruitment, and truly live by the principles it teaches its members.

Both President Barack Obama and former governor Mitt Romney have joined Scouts for Equality to help end the anti-gay policy in Boy Scouts.

100 years is too long for this antiquated rule.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this important manner.

Click here to sign the petition.

NOTE: We encourage everyone to join this campaign, but if you're a current or former Scout or leader, please say so in the "Why People Are Signing" section. Thanks!

Zach Wahls and others respond to Boy Scouts upholding gay ban

Zach Wahls

Eagle Scout Zach Wahls and Ohio mom Jennifer Tyrrell, who was ousted as her son’s den leader in April and launched a Change.org petition attracting 300,000 signatures, responded today after Boy Scouts of America officials told the Associated Press that a secret committee had decided it will continue to maintain the ban on gay scouts and gay scout leaders.

“This announcement is old news. We've heard this line before, and I'm sure they'll keep saying this until the day they decide to change the policy. This announcement, moreover this ‘process,’ is just a distraction. We know where this is headed,” said Wahls, who recently launched Scouts for Equality to overturn the ban. “Above all, what is most disappointing about today's announcement is the secretive nature surrounding how this conclusion was reached. The very first value of the Scout Law is that a Scout is trustworthy. There is absolutely nothing trustworthy about unelected and unnamed committee members who are unwilling to take responsibility for their actions.”

The Boy Scouts of America have refused to release the names of the committee members or a report apparently prepared by the committee, which according to the Associated Press, convened in 2010.

“A secret committee of 11 people can't ignore the hundreds of thousands of people around the country -- including thousands of Eagle Scouts, scout families, and former scouts -- that want the ban on gay scouts and scout leaders removed.” said Tyrrell, while boarding a flight to Dallas for Wednesday’s petition delivery. “This campaign doesn't stop, and we will continue to show the Boy Scouts that discrimination and intolerance have no place in scouting. On Wednesday, I look forward to sharing with the BSA thousands of comments from families like mine that say the time is now to end this anti-gay policy."

On Wednesday, July 18, Tyrrell and her 7-year-old son Cruz, formerly a Cub Scout, will deliver more than 300,000 signatures and comments -- from the Change.org petition started by Tyrrell -- to the Boy Scouts of America’s national headquarters in Dallas.

Tyrrell hopes Boy Scout leaders will meet with her for the first time and accept the signatures as well as consider reinstating her as den leader so her son can resume scouting. Tyrrell’s previous attempts to meet with BSA have been rejected. As a result, Wahls -- a prominent Eagle Scout, advocate for the LGBT community, and leader of “Scouts for Equality” -- delivered 275,000 of the petitions on behalf of Tyrrell to BSA at an Orlando conference on May 30.

The New York Daily News today also broke the story of Eric Jones, a 19 year-old Eagle Scout with the BSA for nearly 10 years, who lost his job as a BSA camp counselor Sunday after he came out as gay to his camp director.

While the BSA chief Executive Robert Mazzuca voiced support for the ban on gay scouts and scout leaders today, other BSA officials have disagreed.

In reaction to a petition campaign asking him to speak out against the Boy Scouts of America’s current ban on gay scouts and gay scout leaders, Randall Stephenson, CEO of AT&T and an executive board member with the Boy Scouts, has announced that he not only supports an end to the ban -- but will also commit to ending it.

In an interview with the Dallas Voice, an AT&T spokesperson for Stephenson said that the executive board member will work alongside Ernst & Young CEO James Turley, another BSA board member, to help change their policy. According to reporter David Taffet, “Stephenson’s spokesman, Marty Richter told Dallas Voice he’s committed to changing the policy... Richter said he believes Turley will lead the effort to make the Boy Scouts inclusive with Stephenson’s full support.”

Stephenson’s spokesperson went on record with this commitment after Jennifer Tyrrell began a second petition on Change.org calling on Stephenson to work to end it. More than 75,000 people have signed it to date.

Tyrrell’s campaign on Change.org inspired Boy Scout board member and Ernst & Young Chairman and CEO James Turley to publicly oppose the organization’s ban on gay scouts and leaders. Following the launch of Tyrrell’s petition, Turley announced on June 13 that he intends to “work from within the Boy Scouts of America Board to actively encourage dialogue and sustainable progress” on ending the ban on gay scouts and gay scout leaders. Turley’s comments came after news broke that BSA officials are reviewing a proposal which could be voted on as early as 2013 that would end the ban on gay scouts and scout leaders.

“All I’m asking for is the opportunity to meet with a Boy Scouts official and resume my post as den leader of my son’s Cub Scout Pack -- a post that was taken from me as a result of a discriminatory policy that’s unpopular with Boy Scouts and leaders across the country,” said Tyrrell. “I hope they’ll listen to my story and the stories of hundreds of thousands who have signed my Change.org petitions.”

Tyrrell’s campaign has earned the support of numerous celebrities as well, including Julianne Moore, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Hutcherson, Ricky Martin and others, and Tyrrell has been featured at the GLAAD Media Awards in Los Angeles and San Francisco for her work to end the Boy Scouts’ ban on gay scouts and scout leaders. She most recently marched in the 43rd Annual LGBT Pride Parade in NYC with GLAAD as well as actor and former scout leader George Takei.

"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 GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "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?"

HRC Statement on Boy Scouts’ Refusal to Revisit Anti-Gay Policy

Leaders of the Boy Scouts of America today affirmed their ban on gay scouts and leaders after conducting a secret two-year review.  Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin released the following statement in response: 

“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.”

Eagle Scout delivers 275,000 signatures to Boy Scouts of America calling for an end to anti-gay discrimination

Eagle Scout and outspoken equality advocate Zach Wahls today delivered more than 275,000 signatures to the Boy Scouts of America calling on the group to end its long history of anti-gay discrimination and reinstate Ohio mom Jennifer Tyrrell, who in April was forcibly removed as den leader of her son's Boy Scouts troop because she's gay.

Since launching her Change.org petition, Tyrrell has worked with GLAAD to share her story in national media, garnering support from celebrities including Josh Hutcherson, Julianne Moore, Ricky Martin, stars of Glee and more than a quarter million Americans. Actress and recording artist Kat Graham this week dedicated her musical performance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to Tyrrell and gay scouts everywhere.

After delivering the signatures, Wahls met briefly with Deron Smith, Public Relation Director with the Boy Scouts of America's national office.

"While today's meeting was productive and thoughtful, the delivery of these petitions marks the beginning of this journey, not the end," said Wahls. "I thought our dialogue today was an honest one, and I'm looking forward to continuing the conversation in the months ahead. We leave today one step closer to religious and personal freedom than when we arrived, and it's hard to be anything but thrilled about that."

Wahls, author of My Two Moms and whose online video in support of his gay moms went viral last year, delivered the signatures on behalf of Tyrrell. Wahls and Tyrrell will unite at the 23rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards in San Francisco this Saturday, June 2, to share their story. Wahls' new initiative, Out to Dinner, which aims to bring together gay and allied families with those still deciding, will launch later this month.

"I am so grateful for the support I've received from Zach and from the thousands of scouts, scout leaders and former scouts who have signed my petition," said Tyrrell. "If you look at the petition comments, and read through the thousands of entries left by current scouts and scout leaders, it's clear that the energy within the Boy Scouts of America's membership is there to change this policy. All it takes now is leadership."

Organizations including the Girl Scouts of America, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, as well as the 4H Club already welcome gay youth as well as adult leaders.

The Boy Scouts of America are at it again

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

The Boy Scouts of America recently told a Dallas father he is no longer able to wear the leader shirt he was given last year because of their policy against "avowed homosexuals."

Fewer kids are joining Boy Scouts amid image problems?

The Boy Scouts exclusionary policies regarding gays, atheists and women may be partly to blame for the group's plunging membership numbers, according to this article in The New York Times. The group's membership declined 16% during the past decade.

Boy Scouts bring federal lawsuit against Philadelphia

A local Boy Scouts council is suing the city of Philadelphia, which wants to evict the Boy Scouts from city-owned property because of the organization's policy forbidding openly gay participants. The Boy Scouts say the city is applying its nondiscrimination policy unconstitutionally.