Image courtesy of Boy Scouts of America My son is 10 years old. My father was Boy Scout and service leader as a young man and my grandfather was an Eagle Scout. When I was a child, being a wheelchair user, I was excluded from scouting. At that time most of the world wasn't very accessible and my local scout troop encouraged my parents to keep me away. Scouting was a big part of childhood when I was growing up, and I felt slighted and excluded. Scouting is less prominent, but more important today than ever. Unfortunately, I chose to keep my son out of scouting for only one reason. I'm appalled that Boy Scouts of America does not allow fathers who are gay to participate. It makes it clear to young men that being gay is not acceptable to the Boy Scouts, and it discourages kids from scouting even if they aren't sure about their own sexuality. This exclusionary attitude should have died decades ago, and I'm glad to see that Boy Scouts are feeling pressure, a
SunFyre is written by a guy in a wheelchair, thus "...words from a seated position." However, this journal isn't about being disabled. I'm a husband, father of twins, entrepreneur, author and occasional political pundit.