In three weeks, the Boy Scouts of America will vote on dropping its discriminatory ban on Scouts and leaders. Those who oppose Scouting for all are trying to claim the voice of faith.
This evening, the Family Research Council is launching their "Stand with Scouts" webcast. They will attempt to pit people of faith against inclusive Scouting. From the promotional video, we can tell they are going to claim that allowing gay scouts (not to mention gay leaders) will somehow hurt churches, synagogues, and other faith organizations. They will likely get media attention for their efforts to claim to be the "true voice of faith."
GLAAD has been working to expose who is behind the event. We have shared the outrageous and hurtful messages of anti-gay leaders like Tony Perkins, John Stemberger, and Pastor Robert Hall. We placed commentary in Religion Dispatches that warns people of faith that anti-gay activists are trying to use their faith to uphold discrimination in the Boy Scouts.
You and I know that there are millions of people of faith who want to see Scouting open to all Scouts and leaders. Entire denominations now welcome and include LGBT people, such as the Lutheran, Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches, as well as most branches of Judaism. These are denominations that want to see fully inclusive Scouting. The United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist churches have endorsed Scouts for Equality. The Mormon Church, the largest sponsor of Boy Scouts troops, has endorsed the proposed policy that allows gay scouts, but keeps the ban on gay leaders.
We need to make sure the world knows that people of faith support gay scouts and leaders. GLAAD has created a graphic to help us do just that. A Boy Scout symbol, the fleur de lis made of a rainbow stained-glass window lets people know that people of faith are not giving up on inclusive Scouting.
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And now, we need your help. Please share the "People of Faith Support Scouting for All" graphic onFacebook, Tumblr and Twitter today. It's important, especially while the "Stand with Scouts" webcast is happening, that everyone knows that people of faith support scouting for all.
We'll watch the "Stand with Scouts" events and make sure that the media knows what outrageous claims were made about LGBT people and Scouting. Thank you for speaking out. To find out how you can do more, visit www.glaad.org/scouts.