Boy Scouts for Boys

          To discriminate means to distinguish between. Sometimes it is unjust to discriminate and sometimes, because the things in question are different, it is not only prudent, but just to distinguish between them. Men and women are different, and while we should oppose unjust discrimination, there are times when we can recognize those differences and accommodate them in our laws and practices.

          Single sex groups, like the Boy Scouts, are different from mixed sex groups. In a mixed sex group there is unavoidable sexual tension: boys showing off for girls, crushes, flirting, relationships, jealousy. During adolescence when male hormones are raging, all this can be a distraction. In a single sex group, boys are free from this distraction, free to develop peer relationships and confidence in their manhood. For this reason, membership in the Boy Scouts has been restricted to boys and in the century since its founding Boy Scout troops have provided a haven for boys to hone their skills and develop friendships.

          Today this is under attack. Although there are similar groups available for girls, girls have claimed the right to join the boy scouts. Now boys who self-identify as gay and girls, who claim to be transgender and present themselves as boys, want to be accepted into Boy Scout troops.

          Boys who self identify as gay and want to be accepted as openly gay are different from other boys and it is prudent and just to tell them that the Boy Scouts is not the place for them. Boy who self-identify as gay are publically proclaiming that they are sexually attracted to males. The chance that they will be sexually attracted to a member of the troop or the leader, is extremely high. This changes the group dynamic. It makes the other boys, particularly the boy who is the object of such attraction, uncomfortable. Some boys, who have been the target of such unwanted attention, have felt humiliated because they feared that others might think that they were also gay.

While advocates for the acceptance of self-identified gay boys into troop say that there is no reason to be concerned since the gay boys will control themselves, given the highly charged nature and promiscuity within the gay subculture, this is highly unlikely. The gay culture is in every way antithetical to the Boy Scout culture. Gay men glory in their promiscuity, having many more sexual partners than heterosexual men and as a result being exposed to scores of sexually transmitted diseases. Currently, a syndemic of sexually transmitted diseases, psychological disorders, and substance abuse problems is raging among young men who have sex with men.

What is even more problematic is the demand that the transgender – that is girls who insist they are boys and want to appear and be acknowledged as boys — be admitted to boy scout troops. It is not possible for a person to change their sex. These girls are still physically female even if they are taking hormones to change their bodies. No one should be forced to go along with their fantasy and pretend they are boys.

Finally, all the major religions have traditionally considered sex between persons of the same-sex as contrary to God’s plan. Those who pledge obedience to God’s law should not be forced to pretend that law is wrong in this regard.

While we can sympathize with the feelings of gay boys and the transgendered, Boy Scouts is not the place for them.