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The Attorney General of the United States told a homosexual advocacy group on Tuesday night that the Boy Scouts of America "preserves and perpetuates the worst kind of stereotypes" by refusing to allow homosexuals to serve as Boy Scout troop leaders. "Today, courageous lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals routinely put their lives on the line as members of America's armed services," Holder told Lambda Legal Tuesday night. "And if these men and women are fit for military service, then surely they are fit to mentor, to teach, and to serve as role models for the leaders of future generations." In...

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that the Irving-based Boy Scouts of America perpetuates “the worst stereotypes” by barring gay people from becoming Scout leaders. “The continuation of a policy that discriminates against gay adult leaders — by an iconic American institution — only preserves and perpetuates the worst kind of stereotypes,” Holder said in a speech to the gay civil rights group Lambda Legal in Washington. Holder did not announce any legal action against the Boy Scouts. A Supreme Court decision 14 years ago said the Scouts, as a private entity, had a right to discriminate against...

The Boy Scouts of America held its national annual meeting in Nashville last week, one year after announcing the inclusion of openly-gay members, and despite a decline in membership over the past 10 years, the organization says it continues to serve nearly 2.5 million youth. "The BSA has seen, in its past 10 years, some years with a decline of 2 to 4 percent in members each year with some years being flat. At the end of December, we had served nearly 2.5 million youth members and close to 960,000 adult members. This is a decrease of approximately 6 percent...

IRVING, TX, May 27, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who led the military to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell, says that he would have allowed homosexual leaders for Boy Scouts of America. Gates, who was elected to head the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for a two-year term last week, said that he "would have supported having gay Scoutmasters, but at the same time, I fully accept the decision that was democratically arrived at by 1,500 volunteers from across the entire country." A year ago, BSA allowed openly homosexual scouts for the first time. The policy reads...

Millions this weekend celebrated the unofficial start of summer honoring those who gave their lives in war, and Memorial Day transcended generations at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery. That’s where Joseph Brunson, 7, bypassed barbecues and swimming pools and took time out of his weekend to place flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes. The nonprofit group “Remember Heroes” places floral arrangements at the grave sites of local war dead each year. Joseph heard about a volunteer project at his Cub Scout meeting. The boy told the CBS Dallas affiliate that he wanted to volunteer his time alongside his...

This is an excerpt of Dr. Gates' 26 page, 27 minute speech in which he speaks to the membership issue. 20 … FINALLY, LET ME ADDRESS THE MEMBERSHIP ISSUE, AN ISSUE THAT HAS LEFT US DIVIDED, DISTRACTED AND DEFENSIVE. A YEAR AGO, THIS MEETING SAW A RESPECTFUL AND CIVIL DEBATE OVER MEMBERSHIP POLICY. IN A DEMOCRATIC PROCESS, A STRONG MAJORITY OF THE VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP OF THIS MOVEMENT FROM ALL ACROSS THE NATION VOTED TO WELCOME GAY YOUTH INTO SCOUTING. IN ALL CANDOR, I WOULD HAVE 21 SUPPORTED GOING FURTHER, AS I DID IN OPENING THE WAY FOR GAYS TO SERVE...

NEW YORK (AP) — A slice of the New York City area mainstream — a police officer, a fire department paramedic, a rabbi, a nurse, a Boy Scout leader — used the Internet to anonymously collect and trade child pornography, federal officials said Wednesday. The six were among at least 70 men and one woman charged in a five-week operation by the Homeland Security Investigations arm of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Federal officials, who planned to announce the arrests a news conference later Wednesday, call it one of the largest local roundups ever of people who collect images of...

China has built an offshore oil drilling rig, numbered HD-981, specifically for the purpose invalidating other nations’ claims to seabed they thought was theirs. There is no doubt about the purpose of the rig given that a Chinese state oil company official once called it “our mobile national territory.” Its primary purpose isn’t commercial. If China can drill an oil well on some other country’s seabed, they can then claim that it was China’s territory all along. The rig is having its first outing to that purpose off the coast of Vietnam, accompanied by 86 Chinese vessels including a submarine....

Pedophile teacher abused scores as clues missed He was one of the most beloved teachers in the small world of international schools that serve the children of diplomats, well-off American expatriates and local elites. He was often the first to arrive in the morning, and the last to leave each day. He led students on class trips to exotic places, treating them to cookies and milk at bedtime. That was the public persona of William Vahey, carefully crafted over four decades until a maid cleaning his home in Nicaragua stole a 16-gigabyte memory drive. There, in photograph after photograph, was...

RUSH: "Writing in Scouting Magazine, Bryan Wendell says Scouts from Berkeley Heights [New Jersey] encountered Curry on a trail in Harriman State Park in New York. Curry, 57, had broken her ankle. 'We were hiking along, and we came to a trail intersection,' Scouter Rick Jurgens said, 'and a lady was sitting on the ground with her one leg out. "'We didn't think anything of it, but one of the guys asked if everything is OK. She said, 'No, not really. I think I broke my ankle.' She told us to keep going, but the guys refused.' Although Jurgens said...

In her role as NBC journalist, Ann Curry has reported from some of the world’s hot spots, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Darfur. But when she experienced an unexpected injury on a New Jersey hiking trail, Curry found herself assisted by the Boy Scouts of America. Writing in Scouting Magazine, Bryan Wendell says Scouts from Berkeley Heights encountered Curry on a trail in Harriman State Park in New York. Curry, 57, had broken her ankle. “We were hiking along, and we came to a trail intersection,” Scouter Rick Jurgens said, “and a lady was sitting on the ground with her one...

Pascal Tessier is a 17-year-old Eagle Scout in suburban Maryland who says scouting made him who he is today, with its lessons about morality, leadership and responsibility. And those very strengths, this openly gay high school senior said, are what compel and equip him to fight back now against Scout policies on gays that he believes are wrong. After long, anxious debate, the Boy Scouts’ national board voted a year ago to allow openly gay youths to participate in scouting, while continuing to exclude gay leaders age 18 and over. It was promoted as a compromise intended to offer the...

The city council of Louisville has denied a request for funds to help Boy Scouts obtain merit badges, because the group allegedly “discriminates” by refusing to allow homosexual males to act as scoutmasters. Louisville Metro Council rejected a request from Councilwoman Cindi Fowler, D-14th District, to approve $640 in neighborhood development money so that Boy Scouts could earn their swimming badges after the county attorney said the Boy Scouts of America's (BSA) ban on homosexual scout leaders violates the city's anti-discrimination ordinance. The money would have expanded swimming opportunities an additional two hours on two nights for the scouts of...

WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS--With the focus on the possible loss of property held for generations of ranchland owners in north Texas, others who might also be affected by the BLM’s Red River Land Grab could be overlooked. During a meeting with Texas State Senator Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls), Breitbart Texas learned that land owned by the Northwest Texas Council of the Boy Scouts of America is also reportedly being targeted by the BLM land management study. Boy Scout Council President, Wayne Mansur, sat down with Breitbart Texas to explain what his organization and the young people he serves are facing.

The Boy Scouts’ image, once defined by idyllic Norman Rockwell paintings, has suffered during the contentious debate over whether [homosexual] youths and adults should be allowed to participate in Scouting, according to a public opinion poll. Rasmussen Reports, an independent polling firm, asked the following question in a telephone survey: “Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable, or very unfavorable impression of the Boy Scouts of America?” According to the poll, 59 percent of American adults have a very favorable or somewhat favorable opinion of the Boy Scouts. That’s a 6-point drop since last May, and a...

RICHMOND — The arrest of a middle school teacher on suspicion of child sexual abuse this week has raised questions about the West Contra Costa Unified School District's hiring practices, because the teacher was hired while police were investigating him. Ron Guinto, 32, of Vallejo, was arrested about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of Mira Vista Elementary School. The seventh-grade English and science teacher is expected to be charged with 11 counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 years old, two counts of forced oral copulation and one count of assault with intent to commit sodomy,...

California is proposing to ban members of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) from serving as judges because the Boy Scouts do not allow gay troop leaders, The Daily Caller has learned. In a move with major legal implications, The California Supreme Court Advisory Committee on The Code of Judicial Ethics has proposed to classify the Boy Scouts as practicing “invidious discrimination” against gays, which would end the group’s exemption to anti-discriminatory ethics rules and would prohibit judges from being affiliated with the group.

In a move with major legal implications, The California Supreme Court Advisory Committee on The Code of Judicial Ethics has proposed to classify the Boy Scouts as practicing “invidious discrimination” against gays, which would end the group’s exemption to anti-discriminatory ethics rules and would prohibit judges from being affiliated with the group. “The Committee’s invitation ignores the fact that the change also encompasses other youth organizations whose membership is limited on the basis of gender, e.g., the Girl Scouts, as well as the military, which continues to practice ‘discrimination’ on the basis of gender,” wrote Catherine Short, legal director of...

New survey numbers from Rasmussen show public opinion turning slowly against the Boy Scouts. Though most Americans still view them favorably, their numbers continue in a perennial trend of decline. The national poll taken by telephone shows 59% of Americans still view the Boy Scouts at least "somewhat" favorably, this represents a decline of six percentage points from last May and a 14 point decline from February, 2012. Twenty-eight percent view the Boy Scouts unfavorably. 

SEATTLE, WA, April 2, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have removed a Seattle-area troop leader and banned him from the organization for going public with his homosexuality, in what is thought to be the first such case since the BSA voted to allow openly homosexual youth, but not adults, to join. Scoutmaster Geoff McGrath, 49, a former Eagle Scout and leader of Troop 98 in Rainier Beach, had his BSA membership revoked Monday after an NBC News reporter contacted the organization seeking comment for a profile the network was doing on “the first openly gay Scoutmaster...