Boy Scouts mull anti-gay position
San Francisco CA Examiner 19Aug99 L1
By Larry D. Hatfield: Examiner Staff

"On my honor...I will be morally straight." So says the Scout Oath of the Boy Scouts of America. But how does being morally straight pertain to those who claim to be homosexual? The Minnesota Boy Scout council proposed at the Boy Scouts' national council meeting in San Diego last May that the organization launch a year-long study to look into what causes homosexuality and whether BSA should change its policy banning homosexuals.

While BSA has not decided whether to pursue the course of study, eager eyes on both sides of the battle are watching every development. A spokesman for "Scouting for All" said: "If this is a real effort to redefine (membership requirements) in terms of up-to-date scientific knowledge (and) the real religious understandings of the issue, then I think it's going to be a good thing. But if it's just a whitewash where the Boy Scouts have predetermined what the outcome will be, then we're nowhere." Also quoted was President Hinckley, president of the Church that sponsors 12% of all scouting units in America. The article used his quote from a recent general conference "Our hearts reach out to those...[but], we cannot condone immoral practices."

Basically, the BSA is going to have to confront the issue if the "morally straight" requirement in the Boy Scout oath means a Scout can't have homosexual proclivities, or that he just can't act on those urges