On the day when the Boy Scouts of America are voting on a proposal that would end the organization's ban on participation by gay teens (follow our liveblog of the procedings here) GLAAD crossed paths with John Stemberger, founder of "On My Honor." 
GLAAD VP of Communications Rich Ferraro accompanied Zach Wahls to an interview at FOX News. GLAAD has been working with Zach Wahls and Scouts for Equality to advocate for a national non-discrimination policy that allows gay youth and adults and is on the ground in Grapevine, Texas for tonight's vote.
Ferraro had a brief conversation with Stemberger, gave him a business card, which Stemberger accepted. Ferraro offered to sit down with him at some point in the future. Ferraro then tweeted:
Hi @johnstemberger - was good to shake hands at @foxnews - I hope you'll take me up on the offer to speak soon. #BoyScouts
— Rich Ferraro (@richferraro) May 23, 2013
Despite the fact that Stemberger believes equality advocates are "a radical group of political operatives who want to force their aberrant views on human sexuality upon the rest of society by the mandate and penalty of law" and that being gay is both "dangerous" and an "artificial social construct" we're still hopeful he'll accept our offer of dialogue.
Stemberger does not represent most Americans with his positions on LGBT equality, especially on this issue. Sixty-three percent of Americans believe gay teens should be able to participate in Scouting.
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 original 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.