Editorial “Boy Scout ban on gay members” concludes:
“Critics would have Boy Scouts of America turn its back on the traditional American values it has espoused for nearly 100 years – values that keep boys ‘physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.’
“This seems un-American to us.”
WATCHDOG: Those values do not seem “un-American to us.”
More seriously than poking fun at the editor’s awkward last sentence, we agree with the Boys Scouts of America and sense they acted for reasons more compelling than those referred to by the New Era. The same somewhat applies to the Intelligencer Journal editorial across the page in “When tutoring goes beyond a classroom.”
Most agree society should not facilitate sex with another by youths under 18 . Thus by law adults should not engage in sex with youths under 18, and ethical standards requires that a high school teacher should not engage in sex with any student no matter what age. Nor should homo sexuals be housed together at a Boy Scout conclave or lesbians at a Girl Scout conclave, nor would we house boys and girls together at a high school overnight.
For the Boy Scouts to try to determine which youths are gay and thus not be housed together would be improper and virtually impossible. Also some boys and especially girls go through stages of sexuality.
In reality, unless a youth identifies himself as gay or is so identified by his overtures by others, this approach amounts to “Don’t ask, don’t tell.” We think that is about as good a solution as can be arrived at.
