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Boy Scouts close to ending ban on gay members, leaders


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[url="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/28/16739587-exclusive-boy-scouts-close-to-ending-ban-on-gay-members-leaders?lite"]http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/28/16739587-exclusive-boy-scouts-close-to-ending-ban-on-gay-members-leaders?lite[/url]

The Boy Scouts of America, one of the nation’s largest private youth organizations, is actively considering an end to its decades-long policy of banning gay scouts or scout leaders, according to scouting officials and outsiders familiar with internal discussions.

If adopted by the organization’s board of directors, it would represent a profound change on an issue that has been highly controversial -- one that even went to the US Supreme Court. The new policy, now under discussion, would eliminate the ban from the national organization’s rules, leaving local sponsoring organizations free to decide for themselves whether to admit gay scouts.

“The chartered organizations that oversee and deliver scouting would accept membership and select leaders consistent with their organization’s mission, principles or religious beliefs,” according to Deron Smith, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts’ national organization.
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[url="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/18/14539592-boy-scouts-release-secret-child-abuse-files-the-pain-and-the-anguish-of-thousands?lite"]http://usnews.nbcnew...-thousands?lite[/url]
[quote] More than 1,200 formerly secret Boy Scouts’ files detailing accusations of child sex abuse within the organization from 1965 to 1985 were published online Thursday by lawyers, one who said the documents revealed an unintentional but “de facto cover-up of abuse.”
“While there are 1,247 files, we know that each Scout leader (accused of molestation) molested on the average more than one Scout.”[/quote]

[url="http://www.kellyclarkattorney.com/files/"]http://www.kellyclar...rney.com/files/[/url]
The 1247 files. Some of them include child molestation cases from almost every state including Ohio, Kentucky, etc...

[url="http://www.kellyclarkattorney.com/the-boy-scouts-secret-%e2%80%9cperversion-files%e2%80%9d%e2%80%94background-and-update/"]http://www.kellyclar...und-and-update/[/url]

[quote]The fact that BSA national was keeping a list of pedophiles was something that not even many lifetime Scouts and some professional Scouters—heads of the local Boy Scout Councils—knew about. The files themselves were, and are, kept in segregated and locked filing systems at BSA headquarters. BSA never has voluntarily released the files, and has always fought tooth and nail to keep them from law enforcement, as well as from abuse victims, their parents and lawyers.

Moreover, as was also made clear in the Portland trial, what can be learned from the files is sobering and underscores just how serious the child abuse problem in Scouting historically was. Just from 1965-1985, BSA listed 1,200 suspected child abusers, and even conservative estimates were that this number suggests that as many as 6,000-24,000 children may have been abused during that time, assuming that most molesters have between 5-20 victims. And these are just the names of men who were reported into the files, which could be as low as 5% of all abusers in Scouting. So the numbers could be many times the 6,000-24,000 estimates. And while it is unclear just how far back these numbers can be trended, since BSA has admitted that significant numbers of Perversion Files from earlier decades have been destroyed over the years, it is also plain that, since at least the end of World War II in 1945, the scale and scope of the abuse problem within Scouting was likely similar to what we saw from 1965-85. If all that is accurate, then it means in the four decades from 1945-85, [b]tens of thousands, perhaps more than 100,000, boys were abused[/b] by Scoutmasters, Assistant Scoutmasters, or other adult volunteers. No wonder BSA was so focused on keeping the secrets of these files out of the public and Congressional eye.[/quote]
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I'm my son's cub scout den leader and a member of the pack committee. As with any case of child sexual abuse, I find the entire thing sickening. I'd like to point out though that the BSA has drastically changed the way things are handled. Leaders and adult volunteers have to pass an extensive background check. There is also a 2 to 1 Adult to Scout rule. No adult is ever allowed to be alone with a scout, period, unless it's your own child. There must be two adults present. If you violate this rule you're immediately relieved of your position. I wish more people were aware of the changes that have been made.
Also, I don't give a hoot if there are gay men involved in scouting. They have to follow the rules just like everyone else so what's the problem? It's not like they're going to be having drag shows at summer camp.
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[quote name='Bartledoo' timestamp='1359406095' post='1211443']
I'm my son's cub scout den leader and a member of the pack committee. As with any case of child sexual abuse, I find the entire thing sickening. I'd like to point out though that the BSA has drastically changed the way things are handled. Leaders and adult volunteers have to pass an extensive background check. There is also a 2 to 1 Adult to Scout rule. No adult is ever allowed to be alone with a scout, period, unless it's your own child. There must be two adults present. If you violate this rule you're immediately relieved of your position. I wish more people were aware of the changes that have been made.
Also, I don't give a hoot if there are gay men involved in scouting. They have to follow the rules just like everyone else so what's the problem? It's not like they're going to be having drag shows at summer camp.
[/quote]

The PERVERSION FILES from 1985 to current time frame have not been released. It is confirmed that these files exist by BSA's own admission. See above link. How many more pedophiles are left unpunished regardless of current BSA rules ? The children they have molested are scarred for life but these people are being hidden or protected by the BSA ? Makes no sense to me. Someone explain.
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[quote name='Numbers' timestamp='1359407543' post='1211454']
The PERVERSION FILES from 1985 to current time frame have not been released. It is confirmed that these files exist by BSA's own admission. See above link. How many more pedophiles are left unpunished regardless of current BSA rules ? The children they have molested are scarred for life but these people are being hidden or protected by the BSA ? Makes no sense to me. Someone explain.
[/quote]
I agree that every single one of them should be outed and punished to the fullest. And by "fullest" I meant castrated. There are too many sick people in the world. But if anyone has any information on why they have not been revealed and charged, I'd like to take a look at that.
Reminds me of a couple years ago when we went trick or treating and found out after that one of the houses we'd been to was the house of a child molester who was required to register for life. He'd molested something like 10 kids. I don't understand our legal system one bit.
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[quote name='Bartledoo' timestamp='1359406095' post='1211443']
I'm my son's cub scout den leader and a member of the pack committee. As with any case of child sexual abuse, I find the entire thing sickening. I'd like to point out though that the BSA has drastically changed the way things are handled. Leaders and adult volunteers have to pass an extensive background check. There is also a 2 to 1 Adult to Scout rule. No adult is ever allowed to be alone with a scout, period, unless it's your own child. There must be two adults present. If you violate this rule you're immediately relieved of your position. I wish more people were aware of the changes that have been made.
Also, I don't give a hoot if there are gay men involved in scouting. They have to follow the rules just like everyone else so what's the problem? It's not like they're going to be having drag shows at summer camp.
[/quote]

Things have changed (I was in Scouts for 7 years back in the late 80's/early 90's) because there was no ratio back then if one was being spoken to about anything. As far as I know, background checks didn't exist either.
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  • 2 weeks later...
[u][color="#f47937"][b]NBCWashington[/b]‏[/color][s][color="#f8ae87"]@[/color][/s][b][color="#f47937"]nbcwashington[/color][/b][/u]
[url="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23BREAKING&src=hash"][s][color="#f8ae87"]#[/color][/s][b][color="#f47937"]BREAKING[/color][/b][/url] Boy Scouts have delayed a decision on whether to allow gay Scouts and Scout leaders, needing "time for a more deliberate review."
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  • 2 years later...

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/Boy-Scouts-of-America-Votes-End-Ban-Gay-Leaders-314800601.html?_osource=SocialFlowTwt_DCBrand

 

The executive committee of the Boy Scouts of America has unanimously approved a resolution that would end the organization's blanket ban on gay adult leaders and let individual Scout units set their own policy on the long-divisive issue. Units sponsored by churches opposed to the change could maintain the ban if they choose.

 

In a statement Monday, the BSA said the resolution was approved by the 17-member executive committee on Friday, and would become official policy immediately if ratified by the organization's 80-member National Executive Board at a meeting on July 27.

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