Bill Moser of Clarksville, Tennessee has spent over 50 years involved with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Moser resigned his Cogioba District position on Wednesday morning over the discriminitory practices against gay youth and leaders in the organization.
Moser began his involvement with the BSA in 1961, remaining active in the organization ever since, even during his 20-year Navy career.
Moser told The Leaf Chronicle, “I have been actively involved with Scouting for over 50 years, and my personal experience with Scouting has reinforced my belief that helping youth is a key to building a more conscientious, responsible and productive society. Teaching or practicing intolerance IS NOT in the Scout Oath or Law."
"It is my belief, that when a boy joins at 6 years old, he doesn’t have a clue as to what his sexual orientation is. So then he turns 14 and he’s going through one of the toughest times of his life, and then some adult comes in and says, ‘You’re gay. You can’t be a Scout anymore.’ Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I don’t know where they get that stuff. But my position is, I don’t have to support it and I’m not going to." he added.
Moser will continue as Troop 500's charter organization representative at the discretion of the Clarksville First Presbyterian Church, however.
When asked for comment, Middle Tennessee Council marketing executive Kim Brisson stated: "The mission and the values of the Middle Tennessee Council are guided by our duty to God and the principles found in the Scout Oath and law. They will remain the same tomorrow as they are today."
The Leaf Chronical spoke with Bill Moser:
GLAAD first started calls for the Boy Scouts of America to end its ban on gay scouts and scout leaders in April 2012 after Jennifer Tyrrell, a mom and den leader from Ohio was removed from her 7-year-old’s Cub Scout Pack for being gay. Tyrrell’s orginal Change.org petition has attracted more than 343,000 signatures in support of ending the Boy Scouts’ ban on gay Scouts and leaders. Tyrrell, together with GLAAD and Scouts for Equality, has launched a new petition to urge the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to completely lift its anti-gay ban on both youth members and adult employees and volunteers. To take action on this issue please visit www.glaad.org/denmother. For more on GLAAD's work on this campaign, including a timeline of key events, visit www.glaad.org/scouts.