First they decided to stand against the homosexual lifestyle. Then they were denied access to meet in certain schools because they discriminated. Now congress is saying that they will shut off funding for schools if they deny access to Boy Scouts.
I must dearly apologize to the rest of the nation for producing such a notoriously insensitive, idiotic, hard headed senator from my own state, Senator Jesse Helms. Now many congressmen including Mr. Helms defend Boy Scouts by saying they are being discriminated and have a perfect right to decide their membership code through the 1st amendment. Well where was Mr. Helms and the rest of those senators when homosexuals were being discriminated while fulfilling their ‘persuit of happiness?’
Schools are not allowed to discriminate against anyone from a public education. Therefore, the school is open for all people. Well once public schools open doors to openly discriminating organizations such as the Boy Scouts, then that falls back on the schools’ reputations and looks bad for schools. However, it is a true statement that denying Boy Scouts access to meet in public schools would in itself be discrimination. Now that schools are open for meetings of discriminating organizations then the Ku Klux Klan could very well meet on school campuses. Equal access means open access.
Then one senator mentioned the time Boy Scouts were denied access to recruiting new members while on school campus. Well is the recruitment of children by homosexuals not the worst fear of conservatives today? Then if Boy Scouts can recruit on campus then access can not be denied by the ‘alternative lifestyle’ clubs of high schools to recruit on campuses either.
Another comment a New Hampshire senator made was the fact Boy Scouts produces law-abiding, crime free citizen. Crime is committed when one person looks at another and says, “You are different, and I don’t like you because of it.” How can you discriminate homosexuals now and expect these scouts to not discriminate against homosexuals later on in life? Homosexuals are not going to just die out, convert, or disappear. There has always been homosexuals and there always will be homosexuals. It’s attitudes like that that put towns like Laramie, Wyoming (Matthew Shepard’s murder) on the map.
In summary it is ironic to acclaim a discriminating organization as a victim of discrimination. Schools do not have to allow access to any uneducational organization on their campus by law. However, the law does say if access is allowed for one organization then it should be allowed for all organizations. Organizations that meet in school reflect the norms of the school. Teachers, students, and parents head up these organizations and meet on campus because it’s cheap and convenient. However, some of the norms that are shown through some organizations do not hold absolute norms or even the majority norms of all the staff, students, and parents of that school. When this happens then those who are offended by the organization shouldn’t try to destroy the organization indefinitely but speak out about their concerns and be proud of their own norms. A Human Rights Campaign organization is a great example of how the resistance can speak for themselves in this chaotic situation.
In further conclusion the victim is not the Boy Scout organization but the children who are apart of the organization. I saved this argument lastly because they are too often used by politicians like pawns on their political chess board. The children don’t care who their leaders date or marry. They don’t care if their is someone who is different in their troup. Children only want to have fun, be children, and grow up to be productive citizens.