The Boy Scouts of America are about, we hope, to vote on overturning their "gay ban". I'm hoping it's not going to be some quarter-baked solution of separate-but-equal or local-decisions-by-troops but a firm, clear, national policy.
I have had a hard time dealing with the BSA policy because I have two boys of cub scout age. We have an active den out of our elementary school, and the boys have friends who are active in scouting.
I also have many friends who have been involved in scouting for many years. I was a scout, too, though no Eagle scout (I got tossed out over my punk hair and bad attitude, back in the day, but not until after a half dozen mostly fun years).
So it has been doubly painful for me, to explain to both my kids and to create strife with other parents whose kids are active scouts, to tell them I can't have them participate in an organization that practices hate.
Yes, I use that word. It's a very strong word, as I tell all my kids, and should not be used lightly. "Intolerance" does not do the trick in this case, though. "Honest differences" doesn't do it either. The policy is one of hate, and I'll explain why I feel that way on the flip.
