Quote:
Originally Posted by Tex
Well, this is all a matter of opinion, of course, but here's the result as I see it. The legal requirement to permit gay scoutmasters would've caused many religiously affiliated troops to sever ties, including the LDS Church. In addition, parents who opposed the idea (not few in number) would probably pull their children out of the programs. A group like scouting cannot remain resilient and dynamic without money or people.
The Boy Scouts may have survived in some form, maybe with troops affiliated with secular organizations in liberal parts of the country (like New Jersey, where Dale was). But the national organization as we think of it today would've been radically changed (my word: "destroyed").
The more significant implication, though, is the further curtailing of the freedom of association.
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So it would have failed due to the bigotry of the participants? Nice.
What was really sad about that case is that it was indeed based on pure bigotry. There was nothing in the BSA rules about celibacy; it was all about orientation. One could have been an entirely celibate, temple rec-worthy, faithful homosexual, but would have been excluded from participating in scouting. BSA already has rules in place for two-deep leadership and studies have shown that gays are no more likely to be pedophiles than straights.
Even worse is the fact that the LDS church threatened to pull out of scouting had the ruling gone the other way. Why the hell do we care if a troop somewhere decides they are fine with a gay scoutmaster?