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Gay Scout Leader Rejected Despite New
Policy (August 11, Boston) A gay man, fired as a scout leader in New Hampshire after coming out has been rejected for a similar post in Boston, despite the Minuteman Scout Council's new anti-discrimination policy. Mark Noel was dismissed as a New Hampshire troop leader by the national office last summer after revealing in a newspaper article that he is gay. Last month the Minuteman Council, the largest scouting group in New England pledged to serve its 18,000 youngsters and 3,300 volunteers ''without regard to colour, race, religion, ethnic background, sexual orientation, or economic status.'' And last week, Brock Bigsby, the council's executive director, told the Boston Globe the council would not dismiss a scout leader just because he is gay. Gay scout leaders would be permitted as long as they did not discuss their sexual orientation ''in scouting,'' which Bigsby said meant any scouting-related function. ''Sexual orientation one way or the other is not an issue,'' Bigsby said then. But, Bigsby now says, ''We will not accept anybody who has had their membership revoked by the national council,'' told The Boston Globe. ''I'm assuming they revoked it for a good reason.'' Noel, 31, a former police officer who applied to help scouts get rifle merit badges, said he just wants to be part of the organization again. ''I'm not going to use this as a soapbox; I never have. I said I was gay in a public forum but I never brought it up with the boys in the troop,'' said the Eagle Scout. Noel was kicked out of New Hampshire's Daniel Webster Council after writing an article printed in the Valley News in Lebanon, N.H., criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling supporting the Scouts' right to ban gays. He said he will appeal the Massachusetts denial, citing the council's own policy.
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When reports surfaced Aug. 1 that the Greater Boston governing council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) had approved a policy that would allow gay Scout leaders to serve as long as they didn't discuss their sexual orientation, some hailed the move as setting a precedent.
The Boston Globe reported that the executive board of the Massachusetts Minuteman Council, an umbrella organization of 330 Scout troops and 18,000 boys in Greater Boston, ``quietly and unanimously approved" a bylaw on July 19 that bars exclusion of anyone on the basis of race, religion or sexual orientation. According to the Globe, the American Civil Liberties Union called the action perhaps the first drafting an anti-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation within the framework of the Scouts' national bylaws.
However, Minuteman Council Scout Executive Brock Bigsby told Bay Windows Aug. 7 that the bylaw is not new. ``We do not inquire into sexual orientation," he contended. ``It is not a new policy. It is a reaffirmation of a policy we've always used."
``Discussions about sexual orientation do not have a place in Scouts," the Scout executive told the Globe in its Aug. 1 story. ``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."
Bigsby confirmed to Bay Windows that the council's executive board reaffirmed the ``don't ask, don't tell" policy July 19, but emphasized that it was not new. Asked about the Globe story, Bigsby replied, ``I would say their story had a lot of inaccuracies."
Even though Bigsby refused a Bay Windows request for a copy of the policy, stating that it ``is just for internal use," the newspaper obtained the written version approved July 19 from other sources.
``The mission of the [council] is physical and mental fitness, and leadership opportunities for the young people of the Boston metropolitan area," the policy states. ``We pride ourselves on the diversity of our members, and we are committed to providing young people with an educational and stimulating environment in which to learn and grow. Through the Scout Oath and Law, we pledge to respect all people and to defend the rights of others. Bias, intolerance, and unlawful discrimination are unacceptable within the ranks of the Boston Minuteman Council.
``The Boston Minuteman Council serves over 18,000 youth through 3,300 volunteers in over 330 Packs, Troops, and other units without regard to color, race, religion, ethic [sic] background, sexual orientation, or economic status."
However, sources said the unwritten policy goes beyond the limits of the national BSA bylaws by stating that unless a Scout leader openly acknowledges his sexual orientation within the confines of the organization, even if it were common knowledge within the community or the news media reported that he is gay, he would not be dismissed.
Bigsby reported that the BSA's national headquarters had been made aware of the reaffirmation of the council's policy, but would not say whether it has reacted. ``You'd have to ask them," he said. `I don't want to speak for them." Repeated phone calls to the BSA national office in Irving, Texas, were not returned.
Sources speculated that the Minuteman Council may have backtracked from the public position it took when Bigsby was interviewed by the Globe because of pressure from national headquarters.
In a copy of a letter Bay Windows obtained, Mark Noel, director of the New England Coalition for Inclusive Scouting, acknowledged as much: ``The wording [of the policy] is beautiful. But it's the follow-through that will count. Especially when this appears to contradict the national policy, and BSA's national headquarters holds the ultimate power in such decisions. While this is a step in the right direction, I'm not sure that this alone will make anyone feel more comfortable about living `honestly and openly,' and as long as a double-standard exists, there's still a problem with discrimination."
Noel went on to write that, ``While I understand that Bigsby and the others in the Boston Minuteman Council must be in a very tight position, they will ultimately have to lay their cards out on the table and explain this new policy in very clear and unambiguous terms so that BSA members in their council can know what the expectations are, and potential scouts, parents, churches, chartering organizations, etc., can know whether they can support this council in good conscience or not. If they can follow through on this policy and enforce it fairly, and that's a big `if' at the moment, then it's a great step forward for Scouting."
The BSA is under increasing pressure to do away with its ban on openly gay Scouts and Scout leaders, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last year. Nearly 44 percent of United Way chapters, major supporters of the Scouts, have stopped additional funding because of the policy because it violates their own anti-discrimination rules. According to the Boy Scouts own polling, 30 percent of Scout parents do not support excluding homosexuals. Newsweek magazine in a July cover story reported that since the Supreme Court upheld the ban on gay leaders, enrollment in the group has dropped 4.5 percent nationwide and 7.8 percent in the Northeast.
During the BSA annual national meeting in Boston several weeks ago, the Minuteman Council and those in 11 other major cities, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia, petitioned the national office to give local governing bodies the choice on whether to admit openly gay Scout leaders and members. The petition is still being reviewed and a decision is not expected to be announced before next year's national meeting.
At least one other BSA governing body, the Narragansett Council, which covers Rhode Island and parts of Massachusetts and Connecticut, implemented a ``don't ask, don't tell" policy two years ago following an incident at Camp Yawgoog that received national news media coverage. When asked, an Eagle Scout on its staff reported he was gay. He was terminated and then reinstated following protests by camp staff. The Narragansett Council apologized for asking about his sexual orientation, contending that it is a private matter. The council implied that gays could serve as members and leaders as long as they did not openly discuss their orientation. At the time, a spokesperson at BSA headquarters said it approved of the Narragansett Council policy.