Gender Discrimination in Cincinnati Ball Park Campout

From The Daily Bellwether

Comment from Scouting for All:
"Gender inequality is not acceptable. The Boy Scouts of America as an institution is very sexist and socializes its scouts to be sexist. I'm afraid to say that the BSA is only a reflection of larger American society. While advances have been made towards gender equality in America as we can see from the article below "Girls NOT Allowed" America still has a long way to go. We must not stay silent on any situation in our society when discrimination rears its ugly head. Scouting for All asks that our supporters send letters, emails, makes phone calls to the Cincinnati Reds protesting the exclusion of girls in its Ballpark Campout event."

Scott Cozza, President Scouting for All

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Cincy's Great American Ballpark Campout: No Girls Allowed

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Didn't state and local taxpayers drop a wad into into the $200 million or so kitty that was used to build Great American Ball Park, the home of the Cincinnati Reds? Don't taxpayers come in two genders, female and male? So why aren't girls allowed to camp out this year on the field at the county-owned stadium in downtown Cincinnati?

The local Boy Scout council gets up to 500 spots for the first ever camp out on the field. It takes place Aug. 10 after a Friday night game with the San Diego Padres. Girls are not invited, as the brochure makes clear. Maybe next year. But only if the boys -- who are going to sleep over in left and left-center -- are well-behaved. The Reds are even planning to play a movie for their guests on the big screen scoreboard.

This kind of thinking smacks of the He-Man-Woman-Haters Club. But that was from the 1930s, when Spanky and Alfalfa were kids and a woman's place was in the home. We've come a long way baby . . . maybe not.

Why is this first-time opportunity reserved for boys first? There are thousands of Girl Scouts, equally deserving and probably equally as interested in seeing a game and sleeping over in the ballpark? There's an old saying: Ladies first.

Some lawyer is probably going to file a lawsuit against the county alleging gender discrimination. The county commissioners might want to press the Reds on the equality issue. Or maybe the Girl Scouts just weren't interested. That's probably not the case, because inside baseball has it that they never were invited.