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November 2001 Issue

Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, and Kind?
An Introspective By Josh Israel

For seven years, I was active in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), rising from Cub Scout to Senior Patrol Leader and attaining the Eagle Scout award -- Scouting's highest rank. My experience instilled many lifelong values in me. It taught me the importance of diversity, acceptance, and above all, standing up for one's beliefs. It was with great disappointment but tremendous pride that a few months ago I joined over 50 Eagle Scouts across the country in sending back our Eagle Awards through a group called Scouting for All to protest the BSA's policies.

BSA has long been one of the leading American organizations dedicated to community service and character development of boys and young men. Recently, BSA has begun strong enforcement of its rule banning Atheist and gay members and leaders. While such discrimination may have been in existence during my Scouting experience, it was not until college that I became aware of it. I felt betrayed by the organization to which I once gave so much of my time and dedication.

In 2000, the Supreme Court of the United States heard Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, an appeal of a New Jersey Supreme Court case, which had held that Scouting's discriminatory policies violated a New Jersey equal rights law. By a 5-4 vote, the US Supreme Court sided with the Boy Scouts and ruled that, as a private organization, BSA has the right to exclude. When I learned of the Court's decision, I was truly stunned and greatly disappointed that five Supreme Court Justices would prohibit a state from enforcing a law protecting the equal protection of all citizens.

Since the decision, BSA has actively removed openly gay members and leaders. Additionally, some of those heterosexuals who have publicly criticized BSA's policy of discrimination have also been removed by the organization. I recently saw a PBS documentary entitled Scout's Honor, which told the story of 70-year old Assistant Scoutmaster Dave Rice. After 59 years of Scouting, Mr. Rice was removed in 1998 for publicly supporting inclusion of all boys and young men in the BSA. To see someone thrown out of Scouting for merely expressing a dissenting opinion was, for me, the last straw.

When I saw Scouts Honor I was intrigued to learn about an organization seeking to change this policy, Scouting for All (www.scoutingforall.org). Founded by then 12-year-old Scout Steven Cozza in 1998, the organization is working to convince the BSA to rescind its exclusionary policy through a petition drive, letter writing campaigns, lobbying efforts, and media outreach. I was inspired by seeing a young Scout taking a stand and building an entire movement.

This young Scout reminded me of the positive values I had learned in Scouting. Scott Cozza was following the Scout law by being helpful, friendly, courteous, and kind. I felt that I too had to do something to promote these values that the BSA seemed to have abandoned. As I explored the Scout for All website, I discovered that several Eagle Scouts were making perhaps the strongest possible symbolic protest: returning their Eagle badges.

I discussed the idea of sending back my Eagle Award with my friends and family. All were supportive of the idea. I looked back on the many years I dedicated to Scouting: the hours I spent planning troop events, the weeks at Scout camp, and the months I spent working toward the required merit badges and community service projects. Most of all, I remembered the pride and sense of accomplishment I felt the day I received the Eagle Award. I wrestled with the question of whether sending back the badge would represent a rejection of my own very positive Scouting experience.

In the end, it was the values I learned in Scouting that helped me make the decision--to do my duty. I decided that I would rather stand with Scouting for All in their efforts to promote inclusion than stand with the BSA in their efforts to divide and discriminate. As I put my Eagle Badge in the mail, I was proud to be doing something to fight for my inclusion.

When I received my Eagle Award, several Scout leaders shared with me an old saying, "Once an Eagle Scout, Always an Eagle Scout." They were wrong. For me, it was a voluntary decision to sever my ties with Scouting. For many other Eagle Scouts with sexual orientation or beliefs unacceptable to them, the Boy Scouts of America made the decision for them.

I hope that the Boy Scouts of America will soon change its policy and allow participation without hurtful discrimination. If that happens, I will once again proudly call myself an Eagle Scout and a strong supporter of the BSA.

In the meanwhile, even if the Supreme Court says it is okay to discriminate, I say it isn't.

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