Thanks to newly-released hidden camera footage, now all Americans can watch the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) fire Eric Jones, an Eagle Scout with the Boy Scouts of America for nearly 10 years from his job as camp counselor for being gay.
The footage was released In conjunction with the lead up to to release of director Ryan James Yezak's new documentary "Second Class Citizens."
"I'd been working on coming out," Jones told the Daily News in July. "I thought it was time to have my life of scouting and my other life come together." Upon coming out, the camp's director asked him to leave. Says Jones, "He said I was deserving to be there, but he had to follow the policy of BSA." New hidden camera footage taken of the incident has surfaced online and will be featured in Yezak's film
“I want to give all encompassing look at discrimination because of sexual orientation,” said Yezak. The NY Daily News reported in July of 2012 that "Jones and Yezak first got to know each other when Jones saw a previous film of Yezak's and reached out to him for advice on coming out."
The team behind the documentary is requesting monetary donations to ensure the film's success.
A recent ABC News-Washington Post poll found that 63 percent of Americans support the Boy Scouts plan to begin admitting gay Scouts younger than 18, and 56 percent oppose its intention to continue banning gay adults from the organization.
Hidden camera footage of Eric Jones being dismissed from the Boy Scouts of America for being gay:
Trailer for the upcoming film "Second Class Citizens" by director Ryan James Yezak:
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, 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.