Free Republic

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Bill Moser, who has been a scout leader in Clarksville for many years, has resigned his post Wednesday, May 8 after the Middle TN Boy Scout Council voted against allowing openly gay members. The following is Moser’s letter of resignation, obtained by ClarksvilleNow: "The Boy Scouts of America provides a program for young people that builds character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and develops personal fitness. I have been actively involved with scouting for over 50 years, and my personal experience with Scouting has reinforced my belief that helping youth is a key to...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry will be among the speakers at the "Stand with Scouts Sunday" nationwide simulcast event to support Boy Scouts of America's membership policies on homosexuality. Perry, a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, will be joined by Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, the organization that's hosting the Stand with Scouts Sunday event, along with John Stemberger, Eagle Scout and founder of OnMyHonor.Net, a coalition of BSA parents and scouting leaders, who are asking members of the national council to vote "No" on the BSA's resolution to lift the ban on openly gay membership....

The results of a Boy Scouts of America (BSA) survey shows that a majority of members support keeping in place the policy that prohibits homosexuals from joining or leading the organization. Ahead of a May 23 vote on whether to change its policies to allow openly homosexual scout members and/or gay scout leaders, the BSA has provided CNSNews with the results of survey conducted in February of BSA members, parents, donors and other interested parties. The survey’s executive summary describes it as “the most comprehensive listing exercise in [BSA] history.” The survey shows that of the 200,000 adult members who...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is the nation's largest sponsor of the Boy Scouts of America, is being criticized for endorsing a BSA proposal that would allow gay youths to join local troops while continuing to exclude gay leaders. "While the church has not launched any campaign either to effect (sic) or prevent a policy change, we have followed the discussion and are satisfied that BSA has made a thoughtful, good-faith effort to address issues that, as they have said, remain 'among the most complex and challenging issues facing the BSA and society today,'" said a...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has given tacit approval to the Boy Scouts’ proposal to allow gay youth to join, saying they “appreciate the positive things” included in the plan to end the organization's controversial ban on gay boys. The Boy Scouts of America last week proposed allowing gay youth – but not adults – to participate in the private youth organization. That came two months after they floated the idea of allowing gays and lesbians of all ages to join, a proposal that was denounced by the conservative religious groups that make up a bulk of...

There’s deception going on in the front office of the Boy Scouts. It includes deliberate misrepresentation of polling data, and threats to pack an upcoming meeting with anonymous and unqualified voters so that the Boy Scout policy on homosexuality gets forced on the majority of Scouts and parents who don’t want it.The Boy Scouts are considering changing their policy of not allowing open homosexuality in either their Scout or leadership ranks. The policy has placed the Boy Scouts in the buzz saw of the zeitgeist and up until recently they have resisted. There are some weak-kneed leaders who want...

The Mormon church has given its blessing to the Boy Scouts of America on its latest proposal to lift the gay ban for youth members but continue to exclude gays as adult leaders. ...

The Boy Scouts are en route to holding that there is nothing to being a boy, and nothing to the boy’s becoming a man; they might as well be the Unisex Scouts, as they are in Canada, where the scouting movement has collapsed.

The Boy Scouts of America’s Executive Committee today released its membership policy resolution, which proposes removing the restriction denying membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation alone and maintaining the current membership policy for all adult leaders of the Boy Scouts of America. The resolution, if passed, would be effective Jan. 1, 2014. You can read a summary below or see the complete text at this link (PDF). ... Below is the resolution: Youth membership in the Boy Scouts of America is open to all youth who meet the specific membership requirements to join the Cub Scout, Boy...

Also breaking today: This is a proposal that would go from the executive council to the Boy Scouts of America voting members in May, , and if approved, go into effect in January 2014: The Boy Scouts of America would no longer deny membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation, but would maintain its ban on openly gay adult leaders under a proposal it is considering, the group said Friday…“If approved, the resolution would mean that ‘no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.’ The...

The Boy Scouts of America called to end a long-standing ban on openly gay members, a spokesman said on Friday, but the organization's board must still vote in May on whether to ratify the resolution. If the vote is approved, "no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone," Deron Smith, the organization's spokesman, told Reuters. Smith noted that the decision drew from three months of research, surveys and discussions and was "among the most complex and challenging issues facing the BSA and society today." The deliberations over...

The Boy Scouts of America called to end a long-standing ban on openly gay members, a spokesman said on Friday, but the organization's board must still vote in May on whether to ratify the resolution. If the vote is approved, "no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone," Deron Smith, the organization's spokesman, told Reuters. Smith noted that the decision drew from three months of research, surveys and discussions and was "among the most complex and challenging issues facing the BSA and society today." he deliberations over...

I just got off the phone with Army Master Sergeant. C. J. Grisham, a serving American soldier and veteran of the the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, who recently was illegally disarmed by the Temple Police Department while out for a walk with his son. “We live out in the country in Texas, near Temple,” he told me. “My son and I were on a ten-mile hike so that he could earn his hiking merit badge – it’s the last badge he needs to become an Eagle Scout.” But half way into the hike, Grisham said, “a police officer pulled...

In a move that foreshadows the radical left’s plans for churches should gay marriage become the law of the land, the California legislature is moving to strip the Boy Scouts of America – a private organization – of its non-profit status for refusing to allow gay scoutmasters...

To: All Freepers who own shares of publicly-traded companies. Action: Vote your shares against the retention or re-election of Ernst & Young as auditors. This is easy and it takes very little time using proxyvote.com. Background: James Turley, the CEO of Ernst & Young, a London-based international accounting firm, is on the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America. In a statement issued by Ernst and Young, Turley said that he will work from within the Boy Scouts as a national board member to help change scouting policies so that they allow homosexuals to be scout leaders. After...

The Boy Scouts of America said Monday that the Utah Pride Center — a LGBT advocacy group — could not charter a troop, even though the group said it would comply with the youth organization's controversial policy banning gay Scouts and leaders. The Utah Pride Center submitted its application in late February to sponsor a troop with heterosexual leaders and middle-school age boys several weeks ago, said Valerie Larabee, the center's executive director. She said the bid, which comes ahead of the BSA vote in May on whether it should keep the ban, was not a stunt. "We feel great...

My 13 year old son just joined boy scouts. He would like to go to the camping trip next weekend and only has one outfit that is loaned to him. He needs shorts (at least 3 pair needed), shirts (they would like him to have 3 or 4 more), pants (same as shirts, 3 or 4 more, boy scout approved socks (several pair). He wears an 18 husky pant or 36/29 through 36/32. Shirts are XL youth to Medium adult. The troop will allow either the green BOA socks or black socks. Also, any camping items that he will need....

Judging from the oral arguments in the two gay marriage cases before the Supreme Court this week, it appears the federal Defense of Marriage Act will be ruled unconstitutional on federalism grounds, and that the court will punt on California's same-sex marriage law, effectively allowing every state to define marriage as it wishes.That is not good enough for the progressive movement. Progressives want marriage to be redefined in every state to include same-sex relationships. And they will not stop there, either. As the court was listening to oral arguments Wednesday, progressive blogger and former Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee member Chris...

A coalition of Eagle Scouts, Scoutmasters, and parents have launched a new organization vowing to keep sex and politics out of the Boy Scouts of America. “The Boy Scouts are one of the great jewels of American culture,” said John Stemberger, an Eagle Scout and the founder of OnMyHonor.net. Representatives from more than a dozen states gathered in Florida to announce the opposition to any attempt to allow open homosexuality in the BSA. The BSA is expected to offer a proposal that would remove the national rule banning open homosexuality -- and replacing it with a local option. That...

Where do you libertarians stand on gays as boy scout masters?