I'm glad to see that the Boy Scouts of America has reversed its policy on accepting gay members. I'm not sure its a big deal most of the time. How may scouts, many of whom are pretty young, are coming out of the closet at that time? Years from now no one will even doubt that this was the correct move.
I was a Boy Scout for a about a year when I was a kid. It wasn't my thing. I'm not all about the semi-militaristic posturing and macho bravado shit. Maybe a gay touch will do them good. I am gay but, although I was aware at the time, it was not at the forefront of my mind. My friends were joining so of course I had to also. So my parents shelled out the money for the uniform and off I went. I immediately hated it and wanted to quit but my parents said I needed to give it a year since I had caused them some expense.
In Fort Kent, Maine, where I grew up, there is a Block House in town. For those not in the know, this was a military installation built to defend the US in a dispute with the British over the border. The conflict never broke out, but it is kept as a historic monument. Anyway, this is where the boy scouts used to meet to do their stuff. I can remember practicing to march for the Memorial Day Parade. The only thing memorable about the parade was that I stepped in horse shit left by a steed up ahead with very loose bowels. Yuck. I also remember getting hemorrhoids because the assholes made us sit for hours on a log for hours at one of the meetings. I did go to summer camp but cried until I got to go home for a few days. Maybe if they had tried to comfort what was really just a scared kid, instead of acting all Johny Wayne, I would have gotten over it and been fine. They also had this exercise where we went out on the lake in canoes and they turned them over on purpose so we could learn what to do. Only I forgot to take off my glasses and lost them in the water. Actually I may have thrown them overboard deliberately so I could get out of the capsizing exercise. I was deathly afraid of water at that each. At any rate, being in a blur all the time thereafter didn't help my homesickness.
We also went to Loring Air Force Base for a day, swam in the indoor pool and got to see them put missiles on a plane parked in the hanger in ten minutes or something. Maybe they figured it would inspire us to want to join up later and serve our country. Thankfully many brave men and women do serve in the armed forces, but it wasn't to be for me. Besides I'm gay and they only just lifted that ban. I wonder how many scouts actually do go on and join the military.
So I guess you can surmise that I was not a big fan of my scouting experience. I am sure many young men benefit a lot from it, but it wasn't for pudgy little gay nerd me. But I AM glad they are letting in the gay boys. Not leaders yet however, you can join as a kid if you're gay, but you can't lead when your an adult. I am sure that will change in time. Cheerio Y'all
-Louwis
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