The Aug. 15 letter by Charles D. Holzinger against gays in scouting is extreme (“Gay rights: Protection for young people will disappear”). Just as there are extreme gay groups like NAMBLA, there are heterosexual prostitution rings preying on young girls worldwide. Both are horrid and condemned by gays and straights alike.
Those of us who believe the policy against openly gay people in scouting to be wrong know that the gay scouts being kicked out are not men who decided to join as adults to prey on kids but long time scouts who joined when they were children and grew up through the ranks. Because they are long time scouts, most decorated with the rank of Eagle, they are well steeped in the scouting ethic. None was dismissed for behavioral problems.
If Mr. Holzinger were correct that gays are dangerous to boys, then allowing local units to choose their own leaders and members and allowing openly gay men and boys would be far safer than the current policy of forcing them to be in the closet. They are still in scouting either way. National BSA has stated that the ban on gays has nothing to do with a fear of pedophilia. More likely it has to do with not wanting ethical gay role models in front of scouts because this will prove the teachings of the LDS and Catholic churches, who have so many boys involved with scouting, to be incorrect in branding gays abominations.
Anyone can play with statistics. Mr. Holzinger should at least point out that statistics about whether homosexuals or heterosexuals are more likely to be pedophiles are based on different legal ages of consent for gays and straights in most jurisdictions. A gay 19-year-old male having sex with a 17-year-old male can be guilty of child molestation, while a straight male, 19, having sex with a 17-year-old girl is not. Interestingly, the two-deep policy of the BSA, which requires two adults to be present with scouts and allows no adult to sleep in a tent with kids, came about because of inappropriate behavior of married leaders.
Woodinville
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
