Just seven months ago, the Boy Scouts of America renewed its prohibition on gay members, but now, in an about-turn, the organization’s ruling national executive board says it may vote to overturn the no-gays policy as early as this Monday. Texas Governor Rick Perry, himself a former scoutmaster, warned a Texas Scouts gathering in the State Capitol today that the organization needs to stand firm against political correctness. “To have popular culture impact 100 years of their standards is inappropriate,” he told the AP after his remarks. “Hopefully the board will follow their historic position of keeping the Scouts strongly supportive of the values that make Scouting this very important and impactful organization.”
In his 2008 book On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For, Perry writes about what would happen if gay scouts or scoutmasters were allowed to join. “Because gay activism is central to their lives, it would unavoidably be a topic of conversation within a Scout troop,” he wrote. “This would distract from the mission of Scouting: character building, not sex education.” It’s all part of a war Perry says is being waged by the “forces of secularism” against what was, in his words, a “once unassailable American institution.” Times are indeed a-changing, Rick Perry, but if it’s any consolation, even if the national organization rescinds its no-gays policy, local chapters and sponsors will still be allowed to be as homophobic as they please.
