Scouting for All's Global Essay Contest

2006 1st Place Winner - Category 2 - Age 11-14
Curtis Lee

Curtis Lee, 1st Place Winner Category 2, age group 15 - 18, Won $150. Curtis was 16 years old and in 10th grade when he wrote the essay. He lives in Shoreline, Washington and attends Shorecrest High School. Scouting for All thanks Curtis for sharing his compassionate and inclusive essay. Curtis gave permission to Scouting for All to publish his essay on our national web site, www.scoutingforall.org

To The Boy Scouts of America

This essay is to the Boy Scouts of America in hopes that they will let atheists and gays into scouting. Homosexuality and Atheism are elements of human nature, they are another component to our unique society. Atheists and Gays are also among the most frowned upon people in our world today and for what reason? These people are just like everyone else, just because they have a different sexual orientation or belief doesn’t make them "The Spawn of Satan" or anyone that should stand out from the rest just because of one thing. Atheists and Gays are just normal people like the rest of the population, no matter where they live.

"A scout is reverent." That is one of the twelve points of the Scout Law. Reverent means to be respectful of other people’s ways of life whether it be religion, sexuality, race, and other things that make every person unique. By excluding atheists and gays, it doesn’t show that scouts are reverent or brave (another point of the law) when they exclude these groups of people from the scouting experience. Yes, scouts accept Catholics, Christians, Jews, and other religions except for atheists. Atheists don’t believe in a God, but just because they think there is no God, doesn’t mean that they should be excluded from Scouts. Same idea for gays, they like people of the same sex, but they don’t like every person of the same sex. Just because someone is gay doesn’t mean that they will "hit on" another guy or try to kiss him. Excluding atheists and gays just because of their beliefs and sexual orientation, goes against the Christians says is right AND what the Scouts tell all members to do each day; it is very hypocritical.

Making these changes won’t change anything about the scouting experience. Scouting is to teach kids about having a good outdoor experience, dealing with other people, and building friendships. What kids and teenagers take away from Scouts is the confidence that gives them the upper edge on others. They can tie knots for the occasion should it arrive, or have another activity to put on an application and or transcript. By denying atheists and gays this, they won’t have as much confidence, knowledge, or experience; and they will not have another activity to put on a transcript or application that looks good as other boys or adults.

The following information is from www.familyresearchinst.org From Kinsey’s historic study in the 1940's to the present, surveys consistently show that 10 percent of the population is either gay or lesbian - that’s 25 million people." Who knows there could be a boy scout or an adult leader out there right now that is gay and can’t say anything; otherwise, they would be kicked out of Scouts because of this restriction. Another piece of information comes from www.adherents.com "Of 293,028,000 people in the US, 3 - 9 % are atheist; that’s between 8,790,840 - 26,822,520 people." It’s the same situation for the atheists in Scouts; they can’t say anything or they will be kicked out.

Another thing that is interesting is that Scouts have had people that are sex offenders and pedophiles. These are people dangerous and can really raise some trouble while gays and atheists just have a different sexual orientation and or belief from everyone else. Just because an adult leader is gay doesn’t mean that he will try to have sex with one of the scouts. This has happened yes, but the adults that did it were straight and married with a child or two. The Scouts have a policy that’s called "Two Deep Leadership", which no scout should be one on one alone with someone over age 18. This protects youth and adults from getting kicked out of Scouts for something that never even happened. One of the typical stereotypes for a gay person is that they are very feminine, "hits on" every guy that passes by, and is afraid of dirt. Not every gay guy is afraid of dirt, and not all of them are feminine at all. Atheists on the other hand, they don’t believe that there is a "God" or a "Hig her Power", but that isn’t really a big deal. Before every meal, some Scouts gather in prayer, a chance for someone to say their own little thanks to God and ask them to bless the people close to them. It’s kind of a moment for the scout to pause and do with it as they please as long as they are quiet about it. Atheists don’t have to do anything as long as they are respectful about it. Gays and Atheists are not pedophiles. Pedophiles are sexually attracted to children.

Having someone that is gay in a troop, crew ship would be a new thing for Scouts (and adult leaders) and they would have to get use to it. Yes, it could take a while for people to actually accept the person who they are, not just because of their believes or sexual orientation. The younger scouts like ones that came in from Cub Scouts or a very religious household could give them an aspect of their own, not from what their parents tell them about certain groups of people. Scouting allows kids and teens to explore life along with different people and share similarities and differences. Setting aside differences is what Scouts do; otherwise they couldn’t function as a troop or patrol successfully. People can be very surprised to find out what a single person is capable of when they put aside their own differences and the differences of others and just work as a team to achieve a goal.