Free Republic

If the Boy Scouts of America approve gay adult leaders, as they are expected to do late Monday (July 27), does that mean troops based at churches may end up in court if they ban gay Scoutmasters? Scout officials predicted that would be “unlikely” in a document they released earlier this month to BSA members and leaders. “We live in a litigious society, and frivolous lawsuits are threatened and filed every day,” reads the 14-page memo from the Boys Scouts’ law firm, Hughes Hubbard & Reed. “However, any lawsuit challenging the religious requirements in a Scouting unit chartered by a...

Yet another man is charging the Boy Scouts with failing to protect him decades ago against a former St. Paul adult scout leader who allegedly abused him dozens of times when he was an adolescent and took naked photographs of him. The scout leader, Leland “Lee” Opalinski, has been named in three other civil suits against the Boy Scouts of America since late June, when Ramsey County Commissioner Jim McDonough announced he was seeking damages from the Scouts and the local Northern Star Council for four years of sexual abuse by Opalinski. In a civil suit filed Tuesday in Ramsey...

Yesterday, the Nation Board of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) ended their ban on gay leaders. This brings up concern for churches who host BSA meetings in their facilities. The Mormon Church voiced concern over the new policy and was able to come to an agreement with the BSA and the new membership policy. Under the new policy, any church who hosts BSA meetings and believe marriage is between a man and a woman will be able to choose the leaders for their local units. They can choose leaders who share their beliefs on marriage and can “[restrict]…positions to...

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the following statement today after a vote on a policy change by the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board to admit openly gay leaders: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is deeply troubled by today’s vote by the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board. In spite of a request to delay the vote, it was scheduled at a time in July when members of the Church’s governing councils are out of their offices and do not meet. When the leadership of the Church...

While much attention is understandably focused on the repercussions of the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision, the movement to bring the Boy Scouts of America into alignment with current LGBT orthodoxy is well underway. National Boy Scouts of America president Robert Gates announced in May that he wanted to end the organization’s blanket ban on “open and avowed” homosexual adults serving as BSA leaders. Less than 30 days later, the Cradle of Liberty Council issued a press release announcing that Council’s new policy is as follows: “Discrimination in any form, including but not limited to discrimination on the basis of...

Gov. Scott Walker kicked off his presidential announcement tour Tuesday with a stop in Las Vegas, where he decried the new nuclear deal with Iran—and quickly drew fire for comments he made criticizing the minimum wage and a Boy Scout decision to lift a policy banning gay troop leaders....."I was an Eagle Scout,my kids have been involved,Tonette (Walker) was a den mother...I have had a lifelong commitment to the Scouts and support the previous membership policy because it protected children and advanced Scout values."...Critics quickly accused Walker of supporting homophobic policies and implying that gay people are pedophiles."Maybe Gov. Walker...

<p>A man alleges the Boy Scouts failed to protect him from sexual abuse in the 1960s and 1970s by the same scout leader said to have molested Ramsey County Board Chairman Jim McDonough.</p> <p>The man, identified only as John Doe 151, charged the Scouts with several counts of negligence and fraud and is seeking damages of more than $50,000, according to a civil suit filed Tuesday in Ramsey County District Court.</p>

The Boy Scouts of America is one step closer to lifting the ban on gay leadership in the organization. On Friday, the Boy Scouts of America Executive Committee adopted a resolution to amend the group's adult leadership standards policy, which was unanimously adopted. The BSA policy change will allow scoutmasters and other adult leaders to serve regardless of their sexual orientation. According to the Boy Scouts, the resolution "will allow chartered organizations to select adult leaders without regard to sexual orientation, continuing Scouting’s longstanding policy of chartered organizations selecting their leaders." The Boy Scouts said that the change will leave...

Boy Scouts will now be subject to gay adult leadership if BSA (Boy Scouts of America) president Robert Gates’ advice is taken. Gates, who once held our military’s top position as Secretary of Defense, declared the inevitability of ending the ban on openly gay Scout leaders while addressing the BSA national annual meeting in Atlanta Thursday, May 21, 2015...

Well that was then. Boy Scouts President Robert Gates Calls for End of Ban on Gay Troop Leaders The new policy is coming quicker than you can say Jack Robinson. In effect gay scout leaders are now permitted since Gates says he will not revoke the charter of troops that allow homosexuals leaders.  Any parents who leave their sons in the Boy Scouts are insane. Homosexuals represent about 3% of the population; they commit about thirty percent of child sex abuse. Not every homosexual is an abuser, but those who are look for opportunities to be around children -- especially...

An unexpected thunderclap, from the Associated Press: NEW YORK— The national president of the Boy Scouts of America, Robert Gates, said Thursday that the organization’s longstanding ban on participation by openly gay adults is no longer sustainable, and called for change in order to avert potentially destructive legal battles. In a speech in Atlanta to the Scouts’ national annual meeting, Gates referred to recent moves by Scout councils in New York City and elsewhere to defy the ban. “The status quo in our movement’s membership standards cannot be sustained,” he said. Gates said no change in the policy would be...

The president of the Boy Scouts of America on Thursday called for an end to the group’s blanket ban on gay adult leaders, warning Scout executives that “we must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be,” and that “any other alternative will be the end of us as a national movement.” At the same time, religious organizations that sponsor a majority of local Scout troops, including the Mormons and Roman Catholics, should remain free to set their own policies for leaders, said the president, Robert M. Gates, the former director of the...

Boy Scouts Put an End to Dangerous Water Gun Fights No squirt guns for the Boy Scouts of America. Water guns are apparently such a problem that the youth organization posted a blog post titled "Water guns OK for target shooting, not for firing at other Scouts."

The Boy Scouts of America has put out approved activities for its members, and water gun fights are strictly prohibited.A blog for the organization’s leaders said May 6 that pointing simulated firearms at people is not allowed. “Why the rule? A Scouter once told me this explanation I liked quite a bit: A Scout is kind. What part of pointing a firearm [simulated or otherwise] at someone is kind?” said Bryan Wendell on the scouting website. The rule is clarified in the Boy Scouts of America National Shooting Manual, which says “For water balloons, use small, biodegradable balloons, and fill...

The Boy Scouts' New York chapter said Thursday that it has hired the nation's first openly gay Eagle Scout as a summer camp leader, which is in public contrast to the national scouting organization's ban on openly gay adult members.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and The Boy Scouts of America are facing a lawsuit from a former Boy Scout who over alleged sexual abuse at a church-sponsored Scouting trip.

The Boy Scout Motto is "Be Prepared." Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who achieved the rank of Eagle Scout as a teen, has taken that motto seriously. His Eagle Scout status has him so prepared, he indicated this week, he's ready to serve as commander in chief of the U.S. military. The Republican governor and likely 2016 presidential candidate spoke on Wednesday at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Phoenix, Arizona. The event was closed to press, but video of Walker's conversation with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt was recorded by the opposition research group American Bridge and released by the...

The California Supreme Court has instituted a policy that prohibits state judges from participating in the Boy Scouts of America because it doesn't allow openly gay adults to become troop leaders. Earlier this year the court voted unanimously to change the California Code of Judicial Ethics, removing an exemption allowing membership in youth organizations, such as the Boy Scouts, that it claims practice discrimination. While the Boy Scouts voted in 2013 to lift its ban on openly gay youth members, it maintained its policy prohibiting openly gay adults from actively participating in troop activities or becoming troop leaders. The Christian...

A San Diego Cub Scout troop got a lesson in human anatomy on a recent outing with their troop leader — and some parents are upset. Diane and Erik Lekven are outraged that a hike on Jan. 24 ended up at a nude beach.

California judges will no longer be allowed to participate in nonprofit youth groups, such as the Boy Scouts of America, that discriminate against LGBT people. At the same time the justices lifted a ban on judges belonging to a military organization now that gays and lesbians can serve openly in the U.S. Armed Services. The change comes as transgender individuals are still barred from becoming service members, though the policy is reportedly under review. In the case of the scouting group, although it now allows out youth to belong, it continues to ban LGBT adults from serving as troop leaders.