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You are here: Home > Forum > A Place of Safety > General Talk > Philadelphia puts pressure on Boy Scouts of America
Philadelphia puts pressure on Boy Scouts of America  [message #61304] Fri, 12 March 2010 18:31 Go to next message
timmy

Has no life at all
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13739



What really gets my goat is that in the UK the Scouts are quite content to have gay members and gay leaders. IN that haven of backward folk, the USA, thsi is not the case

But Philly is goingf after the BSA! Scroll down to read "Serves you right. In Philadelphia, Federal Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter ruled that their local Boy Scouts chapter must post a bond to protect the city if it plans to reside on city property rent free." at http://www.365gay.com/news/friday-watercooler-her-name-was-steven-and-more-oklahome-bigots/

I recommend this news site for excellent news from and about the issues that affect the LGBT community. I follow its RSS feed all the time.



Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
Re: Philadelphia puts pressure on Boy Scouts of America  [message #61308 is a reply to message #61304] Fri, 12 March 2010 19:04 Go to previous messageGo to next message
chrisjames147 is currently offline  chrisjames147

Really getting into it
Location: U.S.
Registered: November 2009
Messages: 630



Unfortunately the BSA has a long standing relationship with churches in this country. I was a Boy Scout, we met in the basement of a Presbyterian church, but at no time did I ever hear a word about homosexuality, pro or con. We were too busy marching in parades, camping in the woods or performing community service.

Back then (1960's), a scout was valued for his contribution to the troop, sexual orientation was never questioned. The troop had been one of the very first established in the city in the 1920's, they had a lasting relationship with that church and it was a good one. No scout was ever faced with religious minded individuals questioning our sexuality.

The scout oath speaks to clean living and moral ethics, I saw nothing immoral about my beliefs as a gay boy, it was no one elses frickin business. I feel sorry for the scouts of today who have become brainwashed little clones of their bigoted scout masters, a pity...scouting has lost all its fun. Ahh those nights in a tent with other adolescent boys. Hell yes, perfectly normal behavior...wonder why they never had a merit badge for...oops, can't go there ;-D

[Updated on: Fri, 12 March 2010 19:06]




Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
Re: Philadelphia puts pressure on Boy Scouts of America  [message #61347 is a reply to message #61308] Sun, 14 March 2010 01:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
saben is currently offline  saben

On fire!

Registered: May 2003
Messages: 1537



I wasn't in the boy scouts, but I daresay that teenage boys going camping is one of those things. Like a moth to a flame...

My first time with another boy was on a church camp, ironically enough.



Look at this tree. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time [...] No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Master Oogway
Re: Philadelphia puts pressure on Boy Scouts of America  [message #61353 is a reply to message #61308] Sun, 14 March 2010 14:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
JimB is currently offline  JimB

Likes it here

Registered: December 2006
Messages: 349



Chris, my experience in the Boy Scouts was very similar to yours and during the same time period. I was in the scouts for over ten years until college and part-time jobs started requiring most of my time. We didn't meet at a church but rather the local elementary school.

To this day scouting remains some of the best memories I have. We weren't so much interested in advancement through the program but having a good time with many camping trips. We built our own dune buggy from an old car that was donated to us and also built a trailer to tow our canoes and had great times in the desert and lakes within driving distance, and there were many.

As you said, sexual orientation wasn't mentioned, wasn't thought about. Every boy was welcome. That today they try to exclude gay boys is very unfortunate and has been to the detriment of scouting.

JimB
Re: Philadelphia puts pressure on Boy Scouts of America  [message #61354 is a reply to message #61304] Sun, 14 March 2010 15:28 Go to previous messageGo to next message
CabinBoy is currently offline  CabinBoy

Toe is in the water
Location: USA
Registered: March 2010
Messages: 74




I am not a Boy Scout and my older brother was never interested either. From what I have read Lord Baden-Powell who founded the Boy Scouts in England was a repressed homosexual who lived with another officer half his age for years, and liked to dress as a girl and act in skits for the troops, and enjoyed looking at pictures of naked boys that you could call child pornography today. So what is the big deal with gays in the Scouts? It seems like it would be following the footsteps of the master.
ROTFL, from the mouths of babes ...  [message #61362 is a reply to message #61354] Sun, 14 March 2010 19:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
The Gay Deceiver is currently offline  The Gay Deceiver

Really getting into it
Location: Canada
Registered: December 2003
Messages: 869




... you've simply made my day Cabin Boy.

And yes, all of that and more may be true; but, what first and foremost should be remembered about that fellow is that he was the founder what what would be, and has become, one of the largest World-wide "fellowships" ever before seen, and not likely to ever be seen again.

In his defense it might be (and LOL I do say might) said that Pantomime, or "Panto" for short, was a legitimate form of, and inherently uniquely British, theatre, and all the rage in Baden-Powell's time, and well on for probably the next 40-years or more, which might (and again, LOL, I do say might) well account for his fondness of dressing-up in woman's clothing and entertaining.

And, in a different context, he could well be seen as the grand-daddy of all orienteers, and orienteering is really what Scouting is all about.

Warren C. E. Austin
The Gay Deceiver
Toronto, Canada



"... comme recherché qu'un délice callipygian"
Re: ROTFL, from the mouths of babes ...  [message #61367 is a reply to message #61362] Sun, 14 March 2010 23:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
chrisjames147 is currently offline  chrisjames147

Really getting into it
Location: U.S.
Registered: November 2009
Messages: 630



Ahh, a fellowship it was, but I won't tell tales or even write a story about it. I will say my tenure with the scouts only lasted 2 years because of a scheduling conflict.
I was on the local YMCA swim team and finally decided that sleeping with boys in a tent was one thing, spending hours with other boys wearing Speedos was more enticing. I was such a show off, and so were they LMAO.



Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
Re: ROTFL, from the mouths of babes ...  [message #61370 is a reply to message #61367] Mon, 15 March 2010 01:22 Go to previous message
CabinBoy is currently offline  CabinBoy

Toe is in the water
Location: USA
Registered: March 2010
Messages: 74




Dude nothing has changed except the Speedos got lots smaller and tighter.
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