Update: Gov. Perry: Boy Scouts should keep no-gay policy
Source: AP
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) Gov. Rick Perry said emphatically Saturday that the Boy Scouts of America shouldn't soften its strict no-gays membership policy, and suggested that bending the organization to the whims of popular culture is wrong.
Perry is an Eagle Scout and in 2008 he authored the book "On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For." It detailed the governor's deep love for the organization and explained why it should continue to embrace traditional, conservative values including excluding openly gay members and scout leaders.
America's longest-serving governor addressed the Texas Scouts' 64th annual Report to State, where hundreds of Scouts from around Texas filled the state House of Representatives to announce their delegation's recent accomplishments.
Perry has addressed the gathering several times before, most recently in 2010, but not since the announcement the Scouts national leadership is mulling scraping the mandatory exclusion of gay members. Instead, the group could allow different religious and civic groups that sponsor Scout units to decide for themselves how to address the issue either maintaining the exclusion or opening up their membership.
Read more: http://www.reporternews.com/news/2013/feb/02/gov-perry-boy-scouts-should-keep-no-gay-policy/
Cross-posted in Texas group at http://www.democraticunderground.com/10785844 .
Cooley Hurd
(26,877 posts)hobbit709
(41,694 posts)TexasTowelie
(112,189 posts)Society's failure to adhere to the organization's core values was a cause for high rates of teen pregnancy and wayward youth who grow up to be "men joining their fathers in prison."
freshwest
(53,661 posts)HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)The GIRL Scouts do not discriminate. The majority of females do not have a problem with this. Why do MALES? Is it that they fear their OWN tendencies?
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)When I was growing up, being gay was the worse thing a man could be. You could murder your mother and be more accepted. Why this is is an interesting question. It must have something to do with "feminine = weak" ....or some such notion. Of course there are super-butch gays and women are obviously not weak.
CreekDog
(46,192 posts)Not every male supports the Boy Scout's policy. I'm sure there has been a poll done at some point in time that would say what percentage do. My guess is it would be much less than 50%.
maverickfox
(4 posts)It's as if he's studied every single criticism of GW Bush, both rumor and factual, and said to himself, "I wonder how I can top that?"
TexasTowelie
(112,189 posts)Welcome to DU!
yardwork
(61,608 posts)onehandle
(51,122 posts)Response to TexasTowelie (Original post)
Post removed
TexasTowelie
(112,189 posts)somebody might alert on that picture these days, but also with a laugh.
I realize that there were alerts on gay-bashing recently, but hopefully we can keep a sense of humor over a familiar picture from the last election and note that the jabs are being made on Rick Perry (although there are billions of other ways to criticize him). I also intentionally avoided posting that picture or mentioning the other tidbits in Perry's history to be sensitive to the LGBTQ audience.
Please be nice to each other and realize that we are a community sharing information and hopefully having some fun on a Saturday afternoon.
On edit: I see that the post was hidden and accept the decision by the jury. Please keep it civil.
Iggo
(47,552 posts)You need to realize that using accusations of gayness to belittle someone is wrong no matter who you're talking about. Not because it's rude or mean. It's because there's nothing wrong with being gay.
TexasTowelie
(112,189 posts)I was on a jury recently that had some gay-bashing overtones in a thread and voted to hide the post because I considered it to be insulting and demeaning. I'm dealing with depression myself, so if anything I am probably over-sensitive to any triggers that might provoke someone to do something detrimental.
The photo is what it is--a man eating a corn-dog and it was run in mainstream media so it wasn't considered overly provocative. Unfortunately many added the sexual innuendo to the photo, even here on DU.
I will also emphatically agree with you that there is nothing wrong with being gay.
BTW, why have you assumed that I'm straight?
Iggo
(47,552 posts)I sometimes have a hair-trigger when it comes to that kind of stuff.
TexasTowelie
(112,189 posts)Obviously this thread is on a sensitive topic. While I do not know the person that posted the photo, I suspect that he was being silly/humorous and it was a 4-2 decision to hide. As I stated above, I anticipated some backlash over the photo and was trying to mitigate the damage but the jury did their job before I posted my response.
Peace!
christx30
(6,241 posts)on the net a year or so ago that decided to use 'gay' as a way of declaring something awesome instead of lame.
I'd like to try to bring that back.
supernova
(39,345 posts)Are traditional conservative values those that include covering up decades of child molestation? You can't be an openly gay male in the BSA, but we will have your back when you decide to molest a kid.
Perry and Co. are such a pack of fools when they speak out for an organization that has such a sordid past and claim "traditional conservative values".
Lordquinton
(7,886 posts)the non-american values are worth ditching, all the discrimination the christian bent, etc.
PatrynXX
(5,668 posts)when my brother intended to wear his scouts uniform to church... he did som under heavy controversy. The pastor considers it some sort of cult. Not that I ever did. It's still a religious organization. and I don't entirely like this thing being forced on the Boy Scounts. Because of the separation of church and state
Response to PatrynXX (Reply #17)
humblebum This message was self-deleted by its author.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)So the Governor of Texas believes allowing gays to take part is just, ". . . bending the organization to the whims of popular culture." That's what it is, right Governor, not an effort at inclusiveness and equal treatment for all?
Think about this, Governor: Homophobia is not actually the fear of homosexuals. It's more accurately the fear of being homosexual. You should really think about that.
Lobo27
(753 posts)but FUCK YOU RICK PERRY.
RKP5637
(67,108 posts)TexasTowelie
(112,189 posts)The statements he made today only serve to confirm that observation.
RKP5637
(67,108 posts)SoapBox
(18,791 posts)First, sorry to all the straight male DUer's out there that are forward thinking.
BUT, ya just gotta love it when a straight guy, lectures as a know-all, about gays.
Hey Gov. ASSHOLE, you don't know shit about being gay or the gay community!
PERIOD!!!
...asshole.
TexasTowelie
(112,189 posts)There were some allegations about nine years ago that were never proven.
However, whether he is Governor Asshole or Hypocritical Govenor Asshole is known only to authorities higher than me.
Note: The last clause of the prior sentence should be taken to have multiple meanings.
Socal31
(2,484 posts)And the US military had no gays until Obama repealed DADT...
Perry is obviously trying to keep gay people out of boy-scouts. I mean, why ruin such a purely-straight organization such as the Boy scouts, who somehow circumvent science and statistics and only enroll 100% straight boys/men?
I, for one, support Perry. I mean, if it worked for the Catholic Church, it can work for the boy scouts. Right?
(I have no idea how to do the sarcasm tag but please, don't take this post seriously)