Another GREAT Idea!!

[ChrizJen]

I was listening to my favorite radio talk show, Derek and Romaine on Sirius OutQ last night on my way home, and they mentioned a GREAT idea!!

There's a blog where you can get Anti-Discrimination Bucks!!
They mostly look like a real one dollar bill, but they have the phrase "THIS WOULD BE REAL MONEY IF YOUR ORGANIZATION DID NOT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST GAY PEOPLE" printed across it!!

So you print these out, and drop them in donation buckets for the Salvation Army (you can do your research and find other organizations who discriminate against gays, but SA is the biggest, most obvious this time of year.) I think it's a great message, without having to get in anyone's face. It looks like you're making a donation, but later when they look through the stuff, they see the note.

The site is www.noondivorce.com
Just click on the spinning icon, then scroll down to the post "Passive-Aggressive Donations..." You'll see a link for "anti-discrimination bucks". Just click, then print!! I've printed out a bunch, and Jen and I are planning to hit a few stores this weekend in hopes of finding some bell-ringers.

 

[jenn&nelsonrego]

This is great! I have just printed out 20 sheets! Some for me and some for Mom (she loved the idea)!!!

I hope this takes off!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We have been boycotting the SA for years - ever since they rescinded benefits for partners.
The bell ringers have been at the mall since the first week of November. And there isn't just ONE, there are at least 8, in different locations all around the mall!

These little dollars might be very handy this weekend.

 

[OrlandoMike]

I've done this for the SA for the past few years..

What kills me is the cute little boy scouts...How do you say no to them?

 

[rpmdfw]

I've done this for the SA for the past few years..

What kills me is the cute little boy scouts...How do you say no to them?

You tell them "I'm sorry, but no."

I don't get into the politics with children, but if an adult working with them approaches me, I tell them that as a gay former Scout, I won't support their organization.

This one is REALLY tough for me. I was a Scout. I sold things for Scouting. And Scouting was really really good for me. I would very much like to "give back" and "pay it forward". But for the sake fo the young gay Scouts out there, I won't. Because they deserve to be taught that discrimination of any kind is wrong. The same way that Scout leaders in our town taught us, by example.

I support Scouting for All instead. www.scoutingforall.org

 

[Uncle Remus]

Great idea Chris, thanks for passin' it on.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

You tell them "I'm sorry, but no."

I don't get into the politics with children, but if an adult working with them approaches me, I tell them that as a gay former Scout, I won't support their organization.

This one is REALLY tough for me. I was a Scout. I sold things for Scouting. And Scouting was really really good for me. I would very much like to "give back" and "pay it forward". But for the sake fo the young gay Scouts out there, I won't. Because they deserve to be taught that discrimination of any kind is wrong. The same way that Scout leaders in our town taught us, by example.

I support Scouting for All instead. www.scoutingforall.org

Over the years I have had some twinges for not allowing DS to join scouts. He knows why we won't allow him to join, and he understands, but LOTS of his friends are in Boy Scouts. I explained to him that allowing him to be in scouts is saying their discrimination is OK, and it isn't. It would be a slap in the face to the people we love if we let him be a part of an organization like that. So we don't support them and he will never be a scout.

 

[rpmdfw]

Over the years I have had some twinges for not allowing DS to join scouts. He knows why we won't allow him to join, and he understands, but LOTS of his friends are in Boy Scouts. I explained to him that allowing him to be in scouts is saying their discrimination is OK, and it isn't. It would be a slap in the face to the people we love if we let him be a part of an organization like that. So we don't support them and he will never be a scout.

Ah, jeez. That sucks. I really loved being a Scout. I think it's something that is a really good experience. I learned so much from Scouting. Things like confidence, integrity, social responsibility, and honesty. The things that have become part of my character. The part of my character that enables me to live my life openly as a gay man. The part of me which now has to refuse to support the organization that taught me those things.

Painfully ironic, isn't it?

I applaud your decision, and am glad your son understands. But I feel bad for him, not having the great experiences I did.

 

[DVCajun]

Oh yeah. SOOOOO doing this!!!!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Ah, jeez. That sucks. I really loved being a Scout. I think it's something that is a really good experience. I learned so much from Scouting. Things like confidence, integrity, social responsibility, and honesty. The things that have become part of my character. The part of my character that enables me to live my life openly as a gay man. The part of me which now has to refuse to support the organization that taught me those things.

Painfully ironic, isn't it?

I applaud your decision, and am glad your son understands. But I feel bad for him, not having the great experiences I did.

And those are the reasons I have twinges. I think there are valid lessons to be learned in scouting, but discriminating against gays is NOT a valid lesson. The fact that they are anti-gay sort of negates all of the good DS could learn. One of my dearest friends (who DS calls "uncle") was a scout, and he laughs now about having a crush on the scout leader. I think he would understand if DS joined a troop, but I just can't justify supporting a group that hates my friends.

 

[OrlandoMike]

Have you looked into the group Rob posted a link to?

Scouting for all...

 

[rpmdfw]

And those are the reasons I have twinges. I think there are valid lessons to be learned in scouting, but discriminating against gays is NOT a valid lesson. The fact that they are anti-gay sort of negates all of the good DS could learn. One of my dearest friends (who DS calls "uncle") was a scout, and he laughs now about having a crush on the scout leader. I think he would understand if DS joined a troop, but I just can't justify supporting a group that hates my friends.

To me, it's much more than that. There are undoubtedly gay kids in Scouting now. What message are they being sent? Those kids are getting the message that being gay is wrong. That their friends should shun them. That they are not worthy of inclusion. That they have to hide. It's a recipe for teen suicide. They're not just discriminating, they're putting the lives of children at risk. I find that to be the most unacceptable part of the equation.

Have you looked into the group Rob posted a link to?

Scouting for all...

Scouting for All isn't an alternative scouting organization. It's a political action organization whose goal is to remove discriminatory policies and leaders from the Boy Scouts of America. Not much fun for a young boy, sadly. Hopefully, they'll be successful, and someday scouting can return to what it should be.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

To me, it's much more than that. There are undoubtedly gay kids in Scouting now. What message are they being sent? Those kids are getting the message that being gay is wrong. That their friends should shun them. That they are not worthy of inclusion. That they have to hide. It's a recipe for teen suicide. They're not just discriminating, they're putting the lives of children at risk. I find that to be the most unacceptable part of the equation.



Scouting for All isn't an alternative scouting organization. It's a political action organization whose goal is to remove discriminatory policies and leaders from the Boy Scouts of America. Not much fun for a young boy, sadly. Hopefully, they'll be successful, and someday scouting can return to what it should be.

I wasn't sure how blatant they were about telling the kids stuff like that. That's worse than I thought.
We'll stick to Band and theater classes.

 

[rpmdfw]

I wasn't sure how blatant they were about telling the kids stuff like that. That's worse than I thought.
We'll stick to Band and theater classes.

Well, it's not outright blatantly saying those things. But the message is still there. Add sexual confusion, teenage angst, and low self esteem to that, and it's not a good situation.

 

[hematite153]

Over the years I have had some twinges for not allowing DS to join scouts. ...

I learned so much from Scouting. Things like confidence, integrity, social responsibility, and honesty. The things that have become part of my character. The part of my character that enables me to live my life openly as a gay man. The part of me which now has to refuse to support the organization that taught me those things.

I had to go look it up.

I remembered some vague conversation around the time my DW and I first got together where someone expressed surprise that my DW was a Guide leader and said something about them supposedly not accepting GLBT kids and leaders. She said that it wasn't her experience, that many of the girls/teens she'd tripped with who had continued with Guiding as teenagers had ended up eventually coming out at lesbian or bi, etc. I dismissed the idea as something that someone who wanted the world to discriminate more was trying to push.

Now I know where it comes from. Wow! The reports on the issue in the US are brutal! Have they forgotten the initial point of the organization?

From the Girl Guides Canada website:

By continually striving to be as inclusive as possible, we are breaking through the barriers that can be created by culture, language, socio-economic status and functional ability and enabling all Canadian girls to participate fully in our programs.

From the Scouts Canada Religion in Life Program:

Action – plan a project to help an organization that promotes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights; complete this project. Explain how this fits with the Guiding/Scouting Law and Promise.

So, I've come up with another reason for you to all move up north, near me!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

From what I understand, the GIRL Scouts in the U.S. DO allow lesbians and it is not an issue. I have not researched it, however, because I don't have a girl.

The Boy Scouts of America were willing to lose funding and all sorts of stuff several years ago as long as they could continue to discriminate. That was a pretty clear message. If they feel THAT strongly about hating gays then I feel THAT strongly about keeping DS away from them!

 

[DVCajun]

The Boy Scouts of America were willing to lose funding and all sorts of stuff several years ago as long as they could continue to discriminate. That was a pretty clear message. If they feel THAT strongly about hating gays then I feel THAT strongly about keeping DS away from them!

I agree!

I work with the biggest homophobe and bigot I have EVER encountered (he is loud and proud about his hatred) and guess what? He's a boy scout LEADER and award holder. I'd rather poke out my own eye than expose my children to that kind of ..... um, words fail.

 

[hematite153]

From what I understand, the GIRL Scouts in the U.S. DO allow lesbians and it is not an issue.

Well, that's good...and reassuring.

The Boy Scouts of America were willing to lose funding and all sorts of stuff several years ago as long as they could continue to discriminate. That was a pretty clear message. If they feel THAT strongly about hating gays then I feel THAT strongly about keeping DS away from them!

Yeah...when I went looking for what people were talking about I found some rather scary articles. Apparently, in the same week that the Boy Scouts of America won their court battle allowing them to continue discriminating because "opposition to homosexuality is part of the organization's expressive message," a scout troop marched for the first time in Toronto's Pride Parade.

One odd thing in Canada, the Girl Guides remain an organization for girls only, but the Scouts have become a co-ed organization. Perhaps, this could somehow be reversed in the US--Scouting for All could seek to have co-ed and/or male troops join the Girl Scouts given that they are more inclusive.