How the Boy Scouts changed their stance on gay leaders

hat a difference a year makes.

In May 2014, in his first speech as president of the Boy Scouts of America, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he wouldn't push the issue of gay leaders in the Scouts.

While he would have personally supported allowing gay troop leaders, he said, he would "oppose any effort" to reopen the discussion during his tenure. Such a debate, Gates said, could "provoke a formal, permanent split in this movement" that neither side would be likely to survive.
And yet, just 12 months later, Gates made a speech in which he said exactly the opposite: The Boy Scouts of America faced a threat to its very being if it did not reconsider its national ban on gay leaders, he told attendees at the same meeting in May of this year.

"I support a policy that accepts and respects our different perspectives and beliefs," Gates said, adding that he supported allowing religious groups to set their own standards. "I truly fear that any other alternative will be the end of us as a national movement."

Last week, the Boy Scouts announced that its executive committee had unanimously adopted a resolution that was much like what Gates proposed.
It would end the national ban on openly gay volunteer leaders, allowing local units to set their own policies. (This would mean religious organizations that charter Boy Scout troops could choose not to include gay leaders.)

If the change is ratified by the Scouts' National Executive Board on July 27, it will become policy.

Gates' experience with the repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy made him uniquely qualified to manage this likely transition for the Scouts. And his speech this May helped to pave the way for the changes that the executive committee has now approved.
When local Boy Scout leaders decided that the best message they could send to young people was not about following a national rule but taking a stand for their beliefs, they exemplified what leadership in their organization ultimately looks like.

I always had a hard time with the ban. Coming from a family that was active in scouting to the district level and beyond. There was always quite discussion about this issue behind closed doors as rumor and allegations would arise about one leader or another. Due to the ban, I never knew of any leader that came straight out and openly admitted they were gay due to the fear and fact they would lose their position and credibility to many in the scouting community. I never cared if a leader was gay or not. Being gay did not diminish the time, skills and commitment he shared with the members of his troop and district. Being gay does not mean being a pedophile. An while some will point at incidents that have taken place over the years of leaders using their position to take advantage of those under them in horrible ways. This was never an issue limited to the Boy Scouts. I hope the change is ratified for the betterment of scouting as a whole.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Scouts_of_America_sex_abuse_cases/

Boy Scouts of America sex abuse cases
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with 2.7 million youth members and over 1 million adult volunteers.[1]

There were 2,000 reported cases of abuse within the Boy Scouts of America prior to 1994, and at least one abuse incident as recent as 2006.[2][3] The high risk of volunteer youth organizations has been recognized,[4] and in 1988, the BSA created a sex abuse education and prevention program in the 1980s called the Youth Protection program to help address the problem.[5][6]

In 2010, a jury ordered that the Scouts pay $18.5 million to a Scout who was abused in the 1980s—it was the largest punitive damages award to a single plaintiff in a child abuse case in the US.[7]
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http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouting_sex_abuse_cases/

Scouting sex abuse cases are situations where youth involved in Scouting programs have been sexually abused by someone who is also involved in the scouting program (an adult scout leader, or more rarely, a fellow scout). In some instances, formal charges have been laid, resulting in specific legal cases.
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http://www.latimes.com/local/watchdog/la-me-boy-scouts-perversion-files-full-coverage-storygallery.html/

LOCAL Watchdog Journalism
Watchdog Inside the Boy Scouts' 'Perversion Files'

Los Angeles Times reporters spent a year delving into confidential files on suspected sexual abusers — files that had been locked away for decades by the Boy Scouts of America. What follows is a series of groundbreaking stories on the files, along with the most comprehensive database of the cases ever published, including 1,900 files and 3,100 case summaries spanning 1947 through 2005. Explore the database and map: Tracking decades of allegations in the Boy Scouts

Boy Scouts failed to report abuser
LOCAL
Boy Scouts failed to report abuser
Records emerging on decades-old cases point to the group's former lax handling of molestation incidents.

Boy Scout files reveal repeat child abuse by sexual predators
LOCAL
Boy Scout files reveal repeat child abuse by sexual predators
JASON FELCH AND KIM CHRISTENSEN, LOS ANGELES TIMES
Los Angeles Times review of Boy Scout documents shows that a blacklist meant to protect boys from sexual predators too often failed in its mission.

Top executives did not report suspected Scout abuse cases, files show
CALIFORNIA
Top executives did not report suspected Scout abuse cases, files show
JASON FELCH, LOS ANGELES TIMES
Despite lapses, the files indicate that the top officials may have followed policy and violated no laws.

Scouts employ aggressive tactics in abuse defense
CALIFORNIA
Scouts employ aggressive tactics in abuse defense
KIM CHRISTENSEN
Organization often played legal hardball against accusers in molestation cases, say attorneys and families.

Men tell of sexual abuse by scoutmaster decades ago
CALIFORNIA
Men tell of sexual abuse by scoutmaster decades ago
KIM CHRISTENSEN, LOS ANGELES TIMES
Memories of spending the night at Rodger L. Beatty's home in Pennsylvania are still fresh. Five boys reported their leader's actions to Scout officials and he was expelled, but the police weren't called.

Boy Scouts to review half-century of files on sexual predators
CALIFORNIA
Boy Scouts to review half-century of files on sexual predators
JASON FELCH, LOS ANGELES TIMES
Law enforcement will be informed of any previously undisclosed cases, the organization says. A Times investigation found Scouting did not report hundreds of cases of alleged abuse.

Boy Scout files on suspected abuse published by The Times
LOCAL
Boy Scout files on suspected abuse published by The Times
JESSICA NAZIRI AND NELL GRAM, LOS ANGELES TIMES
Viewable online: about 1,200 previously unpublished files kept by the Boy Scouts of America on volunteers and employees expelled for suspected sexual abuse.

Court upholds order requiring Boy Scouts to release files

LOCAL
Court upholds order requiring Boy Scouts to release files
KIM CHRISTENSEN, LOS ANGELES TIMES

A Santa Barbara judge had told the Boy Scouts to turn over two decades of confidential files on alleged sexual abuse. The Scouts say they'll appeal to the California Supreme Court.

LOCAL
Boy Scouts' opposition to background checks let pedophiles in

JASON FELCH AND KIM CHRISTENSEN, LOS ANGELES TIMES

Boy Scouts of America fought the trend of adopting criminal background checks for volunteers and staff, unknowingly allowing convicted child sex offenders to join.

Release of Scouts' files reveals decades of abuse

LOCAL
Release of Scouts' files reveals decades of abuse

JASON FELCH AND KIM CHRISTENSEN, LOS ANGELES TIMES
Reports cover more than 1,200 suspected molesters from the 1960s through 1985, naming doctors, lawyers, politicians and police officers
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http://www.people.com/people/mobile/article/0,,20896349,00.html/

TUESDAY JANUARY 27, 2015 11:55 AM EST
Boy Scouts' 'Perversion Files' to be Unveiled in Molestation Trial
Boy Scouts' 'Perversion Files' to be Unveiled in Molestation Trial
A view of a Boy Scout uniform
TOM PENNINGTON/GETTY

BY JOHNNY DODD

Nearly 100,000 pages from the Boy Scouts of America's so-called "perversion" files – documenting the alleged sexual abuse of scouts by adult volunteers – will play a key role in a civil trial that began on Monday in Santa Barbara, California.

"The Boy Scouts of America has a long and sordid history of child sexual abuse committed against young Scouts, committed by Scout leaders, and that timeline goes back, the files show, until at least the 1920s," attorney Tim Hale told the jury in his opening statements, according to the Associated Press.

Hale represents a now 20-year-old former Scout who was sexually molested seven years ago by volunteer Al Stein, 37, while the two worked in a Christmas tree lot in Goleta, California, Stein later served time in prison for the assault that his victim contends resulted in depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress so severe that he cannot leave his home.

Hale maintains that the organization did little to properly educate and train adult volunteers and parents about sex abuse. He told the jury that once deliberations begin they will receive a CD containing thousands of abuse cases gathered by the organization.

"You are going to be the first people in the United States with the opportunity to review these files," said Hale, who got the green light to use the files as evidence by a judge earlier this month.

Nicholas Heldt, an attorney for the Scouts, argued that the "perversion" files, aka ineligible volunteer (IV) files, were used to develop a list of adults who shouldn't be allowed to participate in Scouts. He added that while the organization may have made mistakes in the past, it currently maintains an intensive program to protect children from pedophiles and the files will reveal what strides have been made in recent years to protect children.

"I think this is a case in which the one instance of sexual abuse against [the plaintiff] could not have been prevented and it wasn't prevented," Heldt said in his opening statements, per the AP. "But the training program may have helped prevent the second or the third instance of sexual abuse."

In this particular case, Heldt maintained that the training program helped the victim understand what was happening during his sexual assault and resist the attack. He quickly notified his mother and she alerted Scout leaders about the incident, who informed police.

"The behavior described in this suit is absolutely unacceptable and runs counter to everything for which the Boy Scouts of America stands," Deron Smith, communications director for the organization, tells PEOPLE. "The ineligible volunteer files (IV) exist solely to keep out individuals whose actions are inconsistent with the standards of Scouting and Scouts are safer because those files exist. Experts have found that the BSA’s system of IV files functions well to help protect Scouts by denying entry to dangerous individuals, and Scouting believes that they play an important role in our comprehensive youth protection system."

In 2012, an Oregon Supreme Court judge first ordered the release of the "perversion" files from 1965 to 1985 after a former scout was awarded a $20 million settlement in a molestation case. The records revealed that many of the abuse allegations brought to the attention of the national organization were never reported to police.

Last year, the Los Angeles Times created a detailed database documenting the nearly 5,000 men and several women expelled from the organization between 1947 and 2005 after being suspected of sexual abuse.

In the ongoing trial, Hale plans on focusing on documents between 1971 and 2007.

Quote:

When local Boy Scout leaders decided that the best message they could send to young people was not about following a national rule but taking a stand for their beliefs, they exemplified what leadership in their organization ultimately looks like.

I wouldn't send an animal, plant or mineral there

The executive committee doesn't want to lose their corporate funding so they caved in to PC.
Local units should set their own policies. So how about this?

All activities will include at least two of the scouts parents in attendance.

I was never interested in the Boy Scouts as a kid. My buds werent either. We had dads and uncles and big brothers to take us to the woods, teach us how to build stuff, etc....so its not a big deal to me.
People shouldve realized by now that PC pressure is gonna prevail....even against a private organization. And it will continue to prevail until one of these private organizations tell the PC crowd to frick off, money or no money.

Now, the Girls Scouts, thats a WHOLE different situation.....they have cookies!

They bent over?
Change in stance?
Hahahaha

As a parent you a basic instinct to keep your kids out of harms way . Many times you can only go by past actions of some, which influence your opinion on many.

Is that fair,right or PC.. no. But is it true, yes

I wouldn't let my son go on a weekend retreat with any Boy Scout leader or any priest for that matter.

Sorry, the history is there and they built it.. not you.

What next, a gay merit badge?