Boy Scouts of America membership controversies

Background information

According to the Boy Scouts of America's Federal Charter, "The purposes of the corporation are to promote, through organization, and cooperation with other agencies, the ability of boys to do things for themselves and others, to train them in scoutcraft, and to teach them patriotism, courage, self-reliance, and kindred virtues..."

The President of the United States is Honorary President of the Boy Scouts of America (a tradition dating back to 1910).

The Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) have influential ties to the Boy Scouts.

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) benefits from government subsidies such as access to public lands and facilities for free or at a reduced cost. Government subsidies are paid for by taxes from people of varying sexual, religious, and non-religious orientations.

The National Scout Jamboree is held every four years. Historically, they were held in state and national parks, but mutual concerns by BSA and the government over environmental impacts led to an agreement to use military facilities instead. Since 1981, the U.S. Army has allowed the BSA to use Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia as the home of the National Jamboree. It is a training opportunity for the U.S. military, which has been supporting it since the 1930s with contractors, 1,500 troops, and $2 million a year in Defense Department funding. A federal judge ruled in June 2005 that this funding is unconstitutional because the BSA is a religious organization, requiring Scouts to affirm a belief in God. (There is separation of church and state in the United States.)

In order to comply with local and state anti-discrimination laws, some localities have discontinued giving the BSA special access to public lands and facilities (such as access at a reduced cost compared with other groups).

United Ways in numerous localities have withdrawn funding from the BSA because of United Way anti-discrimination policies.

Since 1975, the BSA's policies have made it the target of costly litigation.

There have been a number of lawsuits filed by the American Civil Liberties Union since 2000 over issues such as BSA recruiting in public schools and government involvement with the BSA. In response to legal pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the BSA in March 2005 agreed to transfer all charters issued to government entities to private entities and to reject future charters that designate a government entity. The legal issue was the BSA's exclusion of atheists versus the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. (As of January 2005, roughly 10,000 Scout troops and packs, approximately ten percent, were sponsored by government entities, primarily public schools.)

Boy Scouts of America's controversial policies

Several controversies have arisen surrounding the BSA in recent years. Particulary contensious is the BSA's position that its traditional values forbid atheists as members and avowed homosexuals in leadership positions. The BSA's most controversial policies are the ones recently a subject of litigation. The following are links to pages on the BSA's Legal Issues Web Site that discuss these policies:

Other pertinent BSA policies include:

There have been 110 million members of the BSA over the past 95 years. Fewer than two dozen leaders and members have ever sued BSA over its membership policies; all of these cases were eventually ruled in BSA's favor.

Membership standards

The BSA believes it has the right to set its own membership standards based on the principle of "freedom of association"; this position was supported by the US Supreme Court in 2000 in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale.

Support

In 2005, both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate voted overwhelmingly to continue support of the Boy Scouts of America program. The US Senate vote in August 2005 was 98 to 0 in favor of the Scouts. The BSA's Legal Issues Web Site has extensive links to editorials supporting the Boy Scout program.

Alternatives to the Boy Scouts of America policies

The Equal Opportunities Policy of the United Kingdom Scout Association differs from the BSA's position (although they also exclude adult atheists from leadership positions).

Discussion of controversies

Some practices of the organization have received increased public attention, largely beginning in the last quarter of the 20th century.

The Boy Scouts give female adult leaders all of the privileges of male adult leaders. Although this was not true in decades past, the policy was instituted in response to a perceived shortage of adult males willing to participate actively in running the troops. While many Scouting adults do have their own children in the program, it is not necessary to have a child in the program to be actively involved with a scout unit.

Until 1948, some southern councils of the Boy Scouts of America were racially segregated. Colored Troops, as they were officially known, were given little support from Districts, Councils. Some Scouting executives and leaders believed that Colored Scouts and Leaders would be less able to live up to the ideals of the Boy Scouts. The national office began a program of integrating local councils in 1940 which was largely complete in 1948.

Membership and compensation issues

B.S.A. has periodically had problems with local Councils overstating membership. Overall membership in Boy Scouts has been declining with "traditional" Scouting programs like Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. Cub Scouting had slightly fewer than 1.9 million members in 2004. Boy Scouts had fewer than 1 million members. Combined, they are still the nation's largest youth organization. All youth organization population trends need to be considered as percentage of "available youth", because as school age demographics swing over time, so does youth organization membership.

A legally distinct program, "Learning for Life," operated in schools, has shown growth but does not have the same leadership standards as its leaders are chosen from the school's faculty. This program often uses donations or government grants to pay membership fees for participants. Attempts to stem declining enrollments have put pressure on some paid staffers to increase membership numbers leading to a few enrollment disputes. Three out of the over 300 councils had any of their membership numbers questioned in the 2004-2005 period. These councils are in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. A program for disadvantaged youth in Atlanta was found to have only 5,000 boys, not the 15,000 claimed. Joseph Beasley, a Civil Rights leader and others believe even the revised count is far too high.

Some local councils have sold some of their council properties due to declining membership or use. This has led to protests from some volunteer leaders - noticeably in the Chicago Area Council.

Upper level executives in B.S.A. are well paid by non-profit corporation standards. The current Chief Scout Executive had a total compensation package of over $900,000 in 2003 - half in deferred compensation (according to IRS Form 990 filings). In 2004, BSA was the 12th largest non-profit organization in the US with total revenues of $771 million. The Chief Scout Executive was honored in August 2005 as one the top fifty most effective non-profit leaders by Non-Profit Times. While low level employees are not particularly well paid, local Council heads - Scout Executives - who supervise on average 25 employees, regularly earn more than $100,000.

Sexual abuse

Problems with sexual abuse have not been eliminated though new procedures were implemented after it was revealed that thousands of cases had occurred in the 1970's and 80's. The recent arrest of the head of "Youth Protection" for distributing child pornography proved to be an embarrassment for B.S.A. Despite a program that calls for two-deep leadership, a youth protection training booklet and strict procedures designed to prevent abuse, this remains a concern in Scouting, as it does with any other youth organization. Settlements in such cases and legal actions are usually sealed so information on these cases is not readily available.

Violence

Twenty years ago^{[citation needed]}, a Boy Scout troop in the Eastern United States was involved in a scandal resulting in violence occurring on campout trips. In Virginia, a report surfaced that a scout had been badly beaten by fellow scouts at the Goshen, Virginia Boy Scout Camp. Further reports followed of bullying of younger scouts by older scouts, especially on prolonged outdoor trips where adult supervision was limited. Parents challenged the Boy Scouts attitude to such instances, since several adult leaders were quoted as saying that scouts in the field should "know how to take care of themselves" and that "natural horseplay" on campout trips was not a problem.

To prevent such incidents and other forms of child abuse, the BSA developed an extensive Youth Protection Plan in the mid-eighties that actively teaches both youth members and adult leaders in how to recognize, resist and report child abuse in both Scout and non-Scout venues. In addition, it provides tight requirements on adult leadership and activities to help ensure that Scouting is a safe venue for its participants. Several Scouts have been expelled from the organization for violence.

Atheism and homosexuality

As quoted in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale from a 1993 BSA position statement, the BSA prohibits avowed homosexuals as both leaders and members. "The Boy Scouts of America has always reflected the expectations that Scouting families have had for the organization. They do not believe that homosexuals provide a role model consistent with these expectations. Accordingly, they do not allow for the registration of avowed homosexuals as members or as leaders of the BSA." A more recent policy from 2004 excludes homosexual leaders, but does not explicitly mention members. However, it does require that BSA members must be morally straight in thought and be willing to follow the Scout Oath and Law.

The BSA's prohibition of known or avowed homosexuals as leaders or members, youths who refuse to affirm a "duty to God", and adult atheists and agnostics, has been particularly controversial in some quarters. The prohibition is enforced in many cases, but not always. Some donors of funding or meeting space have reduced their support in protest of these policies, while other donors have increased their support of Scouting in part specifically due to the policies.

The BSA maintains that it has the right to select as leaders the best possible role models for the values espoused in the Scout Oath and Law. Lawsuits over this matter have gone as high as the United States Supreme Court, which ruled (in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale) that the BSA is a private association with the right to set its own standards for membership and leadership. B.S.A. has used this stance to revoke the membership of a few who have publicly criticized its policies and other operational issues.

One case is now in court after the whistleblower claiming inflated counts in Greater Alabama Council was removed from Scouting. Dave Rice, who had 59 years in Scouting, was removed after publicly advocating "tolerance" with respect to homosexuality. He was one of the founders of "Scouting for All", an organization advocating non-discriminatory membership policies.

The BSA also maintains that an avowed homosexual is not a role model for those values. Officially, the BSA makes no effort to discover the sexual orientation of any person. Critics contend that some leaders within BSA have investigated and expelled non-avowed homosexual leaders and members from the organization].

Individual councils, such as the Boston Minuteman Council and Old Colony Council of Massachusetts, have arguably not enforced the controversial policies, apparently defying the national council. In August 2001, a spokesperson for the Boston Minuteman Council was quoted by the Boston Globe as saying, "Discussions about sexual orientation do not have a place in Scouts. The Scouts will not inquire into a person's sexual history, and that person will not expose their sexual orientation one way or the other." The council argued that their "don't ask, don't tell" policy does not, in fact, conflict with the national policy and is common in other councils. In public discussions, some supporters and opponents of the national policy have expressed the opinion that the above-cited Massachusetts' councils' policies is meaningfully different from the national policy.

Tolerance of public dissent

B.S.A. has not tolerated public "dissent" from its volunteers. Volunteer leaders can be removed for using their leader status for expressing public political opinions under procedures defined in "Procedures for Maintaining Standards of Membership". A few volunteers that have spoken out against membership fraud, questioned property sales, and otherwise expressed views questioning B.S.A. have had their memberships revoked under these procedures.

While claiming to "represent" the views of its membership, the B.S.A. National Council has not been open to individuals publicly expressing dissenting opinions. Efforts to change policies are supposed to follow the internal flow of elections from unit committee to council to national. While a few volunteer leaders have had their registrations revoked by their local councils, the established procedures make it difficult to appeal removal within B.S.A. and none so far have been willing to spend time and funds on court action. A few volunteers in Chicago have had their registrations in B.S.A. revoked as has the whistleblower in Alabama.^{[citation needed]}

Responses to the controversies

Since the homosexuality debate surfaced, several large municipal governments in America have refused to let Boy Scouts use municipal facilities at a discounted rate (which had been usual practice), and several charitable organizations and influential people refuse to sponsor the organization. On the other hand, some donors have given more to the organization in support of its position. Some have threatened to withdraw support if the position is changed.

BSA policy has also led to disagreement between the BSA and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) (see Unitarian Universalism). The UUA has acceptance as one of its defining beliefs, and this includes respect and inclusion of atheists, gays, and lesbians. The BSA had long recognized UUA religious badges, along with those of many other religions. In 1993, the UUA added information about its anti-discrimination stance to the award program manual. Five years later, the BSA responded by withdrawing recognition of the badges, and instructing Scouts not to wear them. The UUA attempted to compromise, removing language that the BSA considers offensive from its official program manuals and informing young Unitarian Universalist Boy Scouts of the UUA viewpoint regarding tolerance through other means. However, the BSA did not accept the UUA alternative and some Universalist Scouters side with the BSA. The UUA continues its Boy Scout program and encourages Boy Scouts to wear the Unitarian Universalist religious badges on their uniforms. A member of the UUA, the All Souls Community, established a program called "The Navigators" as an inclusive alterative to the Boy Scouts of America.

In 2001, the Commission on Social Action of the Union for Reform Judaism issued a memorandum recommending congregations stop sponsoring / housing troops and packs associated with the Boy Scouts of America and that parents withdraw their children from troops and packs. The Commission cited the Reform commitment to ending discrimination in all forms.

One of the BSA's largest chartered partners is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ("LDS Church"; see also Mormon), which opposes homosexuality. The church has supported the BSA, both financially and by providing members, throughout the BSA's existence. (Scouting is part of the church's youth program, and most LDS boys who attend church are enrolled as Scouts as a matter of routine.) LDS leadership has threatened to remove its support if BSA homosexuality policy is changed. However, it currently sponsors Scouts Canada, which permits homosexuals to join.

The European region of the World Organization of the Scout Movement formally condemned the policy of the Boy Scouts of America to exclude homosexuals as leaders. However, the WOSM as a whole and the American region have not taken any such position.

As a response to attacks on the BSA, both the US House of Representatives and the US Senate have voted overwhelmingly to continue support of the Boy Scouts of America program. In November 2004, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution by a vote of 391 to 3 applauding BSA for its contributions to the nation. The US Senate vote in August 2005 was 98 to 0 in favor of continued federal support of BSA. And in August 2005 President Bush addressed the BSA National Jamboree and reinterated his support for the BSA program.

External links