guide to the jewplexed

Could Jews be Trailblazers for Gays in Scouts?

boy scouytWhy is the Boy Scouts of America, whose motto is "Be Prepared," not yet ready to admit gays as Scouts? In the 1960's, they were more than prepared to admit me. Though not gay, I am Jewish, and represented a group, that like gays, also called for some attitude adjustment on the part of Scouting.

From ages 11-18, in my suburban Scout Troop 75, I went to meetings once a week, and on camping trips several times a year, finally earning the rank of Eagle in my senior year of high school.

Today, as an alumnus who has pleasant memories of a movement that taught me that boys from many different households and lifestyles could be friends, I was puzzled about why Scouting was resisting change.

According to the New York Times, the BSA, after confirming last summer their policy of banning openly gay men and boys from participation, early the next year announced the policy was under reconsideration, then, a week later announced that no decision would be made until May.

The policy, as represented on the Boy Scouts of America website explains that, "While the BSA does not proactively inquire about the sexual orientation of employees, volunteers, or members, we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA."

The announcement of a reconsideration of policy, said the site "Created an outpouring of feedback from the Scouting family and the American public, from both those who agree with the current policy and those who support a change. This feedback reinforced how deeply people care about Scouting and how passionate they are about the organization."

Even President Obama had become involved in the debate, saying in a CBS interview that the ban should end. "My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does, in every institution and walk of life," he said.

I debated it too. Certainly some boys and adult leaders would find a change difficult--against their way of life. Yet, the more I began to consider what some of those adjustments might be, the more I remembered my own years in Scouting, and how my participation, as well as that of other Jewish Boy Scouts, in a very Christian Orange County, California, had also challenged Scouting culture.

In some respects we were trailblazers for change.

There were six or seven of us in a troop of about 60 boys, and for many of my fellow Scouts it was the first time they had met a Jewish kid. I soon found that my fellow Scouts were curious about Jewish holidays, customs, and even what it meant to have a bar mitzvah.

We discovered that while a Scout is "Reverent"--one of the tenets of the Scout Law-- there are many different forms and beliefs to which this reverence can be directed.

They also saw that we had a different outlook on some things, like eating bacon, a staple on camping trips. But they could also see we had a lot in common--we too didn't like hearing the bugle blow early in the morning, taking long hikes, or adults who barked orders at us.

Having Jewish kids in the mix also meant there had to be a change in Scouting culture. In particular, on the Sunday mornings of larger camping events called Jamborees, there were chapel services that all boys were required to attend. Usually led by a minister, they invariably ended with the words, "In the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ."

Did the minister not know there were some "other" believers out there?

I remember after one service, my voice cracking as I spoke to a Jewish Scout leader--since there were now Jewish boys, there were also Jewish dads--asking how the ending of the service could be changed.

Eventually those leading the service got the news, and the closing was changed to "God, or, "Lord."

The change was just a couple of words, but indicated an important conceptual change, and cultural shift in our region. Looking back on it today, I see the change as an acknowledgment that there was enough room in the tent--that Jewish and Christian boys could be in Scouting together, and that the experience helped to prepare me for the future.

When straight and gay young men go off to college, the armed services, the world of work, they are bound to meet. In a dorm, on a factory floor, or on a battle field, they may need to understand and depend on each other. It's time for Scouting to stand up and help them to be prepared.

Edmon J. Rodman has written about making his own matzah for JTA, Jewish love music for the Jerusalem Post, yiddisheh legerdemain for the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, a Bernie Madoff Halloween mask for the Forward, and what really gets stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits for the Los Angeles Times. He has edited several Jewish population studies, and is one of the founders of the Movable Minyan, an over twenty-year-old chavura-size, independent congregation. He once designed a pop-up seder plate. In 2011 Rodman received a First Place Simon Rockower Award for "Excellence in Feature Writing" from the American Jewish Press Association."