BRIDGEPORT, Ohio — More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for the Boy Scouts to reinstate a volunteer den mother who was ousted from her position because she is gay.
Jennifer Tyrrell of Bridgeport, Ohio was told on April 10 that she would no longer be able to serve as a den leader of her son’s Cub Scout chapter.
According to Tyrrell, who has served as a den leader for more than a year, the revocation of her membership came shortly after she was elected treasurer of her pack and uncovered inconsistencies in the pack’s finances.
“Within a week of reporting these findings to the council, I received notice that my membership had been revoked, based on my sexual orientation, citing that due to being gay, I did ‘not meet the high standards of membership that the BSA seeks,’” Tyrrell wrote in the petition that she launched at Change.org.
But Scout leadership said it their decision was “solely based on her sexual orientation.”
“We do not grant membership to individuals who are opened or avowed homosexuals,” said Bob Drury. Drury is the scout executive for the Ohio River Valley.
[...]
“The mission of the Boy Scouts of America is to develop character and leadership skills and the youth of today to become leaders of tomorrow,” Drury said. “Anything that distracts from that mission distracts from what our program is.”
via: WTOV-TV →
GLAAD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, this week joined Tyrrell in calling on the Boy Scouts to change its policy that prohibits LGBT people from serving as troop den leaders.
“The Boy Scouts of America is one of the last cultural institutions to categorically discriminate against LGBT Americans,” said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick.
“Sending the message to America’s youth that they or their parents are somehow less than everyone else is dangerous, inaccurate and should be changed immediately,” Graddick said.
Tyrrell said her biggest concern is that her scouts “will think that I abandoned them because they don’t understand.”
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ppl piss me off
beautiful!!!
Listen here boy scouts we may be different just by the people we love but that does not mean we are going to put others people in danuger. I was a boy scout but I had to leave due to the fact that I am guy male.
BOY SCOUTS SUCK
thay are a hate group but im glad to see that people relize it and are doing something about it!
Damn right people are signing it! What the Boy Scouts did was wrong!
Yet another reason I don’t support boy scouts and haven’t for years.
As a former Boy Scout, (Troop 50 Wethersfield, CT Rank: Life, Patrol Leader, Senior Patrol Leader) I am apalled by this discrimmination against LGBT scouts, children, parents, staff, or leaders. Scout Values should not promote divisiveness or the reinforcement of second-class citizenship.
so sad hatred it taught by parents hope the children dont follow in their parent bad ways
It’s a shame they are so foolish as to be taken down by this.
It is just wrong…..the public needs to quit supporting them and start an all inclusive group.
Not right at all. Just because they’re gay doesn’t mean they can’t be leaders for tomorrow.
that is sooo worng there is nothing worng with being gay and being a den mother thats messed up
that’s fucked…
Ummmmm, excuse me boyscouts! But just because someone is gay, does not make them a pedophile or lacking in the abilities to be a troop leader! If anything, gay/lesbian troop leaders would be better, as they would also teach inclusion and acceptance of others!
I find this ironic because Buck Angel (who is a transsexual porn star) was a Girl Scout in his youth, kinda messed up if you ask me…
Where do I sign?!!
we pulled our grandson out of Boy Scouts cuz of being blownin off, he is 6 . did not want him to be teased or bullyed, by others, after paying all that money for him to join, now we had to let him down n lie to him and say it was over.
I signed for you hun u gooooooo
I (a lesbian) was a den mother when my son was in cub scouts. I raised my son to be a fine man and to value all people….not to be closed minded like the boy scouts. We dropped THEM because of their beliefs that was in the 80′s shame on the boy scouts!
they had cases of pediphile inside boy scouts troops and know of chid molestation among them for a fact (family molested by some eagles) and they worried for a lesbian. all the molersers inside churches and boy scouts are straight not gay. shame on you boy scouts
there homophoics organtation what you expect
We are not monsters, i dont understand, we are still human beings!!
Am I the only one that finds this ironic because famous transsexual porn star Buck Angel was a Girl Guide in his youth???
- I think the BSA gets way too much public respect and assumption of their civic goodness, and I am tired of them being regarded as a junior ROTC and honour guard at all-community events. If they are a public national-level organization then they should be abiding by all applicable non-discrimination ordinances where they operate plus those implicit within the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights – and if they are a private organization (w/ the right to discriminate as they choose) then communities should not be automatically supporting them by including them as a matter of course in parades, holiday events, patriotic national observances, etc. – nor should the U.S. Government be /allowed/ to give them any special recognition or promotional visibility when they are flagrantly not abiding by clear civic non-discrimination regulations. And the same applies to any “private” organization that abuses civic hospitality and exploits assumptions that they are somehow indispensible to the fabric of civic life & yet needn’t play nice with others because of assumedly-sacred prejudices. There must be separation of Boy Scouts and State, and they need to prove themselves on the same footing as every other /private/ (and moreover, openly sectarian) organization.
Well said Kagen!
I am outraged at the dismissal of the Den Leader. I am an Assistant Den Leader for my sons pack and have brought up various topics to our Pack….faith, family dynamics….I don’t believe the BSA should discriminate against anyone for anyone
for any reason. Not everyone involved in Scouting believes like this Chapter. I will not teach my boys to disricminate against anyone. There are some good people involved that remember it’s about the boys.
Howridiculous, dismissing her because she is a lesbian. So what? She didn’t harm anyone and anything. Being gay/bi is a personal characteristic that in and of itself is quite alright and natural. One’s sexual orientation is part of the make up of some people, just like some people prefer spicey food or not. A personal preference that people are born with that is part of the personality spectrum of a being. That den mother needs to have her position given back to her and at least recievea formal official (perhaps public) apology.
The Scouts have completely blown it at choosing the correct side of history here. Stop appeasing bigots and include every boy and every family in the Scouts! Goodness, it’s embarrassing.
i ca’nt believe that the united states OF america will do the undo the boy scouts of america for being one nation under there GOD. wtf!
I was a cub and boy scout and was inches away from eagle. I no longer freely admit to being associated with scouting due to my shame and embarrassment the organization has brought upon itself.
My 9 year old son is thinking if his two moms are not welcome, that is totally whacked. Rural Ohio is changing, but maybe not fast enough.
Kim Bendig-Soik I was told not to bring my son back to Boy Scouts because he drew a picture of his family which included his 2 Moms….that was years ago & still burns my butt to this day!!! Their excuse was the other boys wouldn’t understand & it would cause problems with other parents when they asked questions :(
theres more child abuse in cub scouts, and all those other boy camping organizations than the entire catholic church…
they just didnt want to be shown up by a woman, her boys were probably kickin ass on all their merits and such
they would rather have a male pedophile
well put kagen, i rememberthis happening to a den mother of a friend of mine in school i actually quit bc i felt so bad for her, i am 25 and just now have had the courage to “come out”, i tried when i was 14 but my family wouldnt hear of it, needless to say we dont speak ne more…as far as all this discrimination goes fight it girl we all got ur back and even if you lose its out there in the open, i think the military should also have this happen honestly along with gov.programs like job corps, same thing underground hasing for gays, i know i was a victim along witha few others keep fighting eventually we will alll win!!!
i don’t allow my children to participate in hate groups, until there is no discrimination my children will find another group to have fun with. We all need to band together as a country and show the scouts and anyone else that hate groups that discriminate have no place in this society!
That wonderful woman and Mother needs to be reinstated!!! What the scouts need is people with heart serving and not just straight people!!!
One reason my son is not in BS.