BSA looks set to approve gay leaders - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

MikeWaters · 07-13-2015, 10:22 PM

Church signals that the change is okay as long as the church can ban gays itself.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...y-leaders.html

BlueK · 07-14-2015, 04:07 PM

This is actually a change for the church because I believe it was in 2001 when the BSA considered lifting the ban on gay leaders, and even at that time, the church still would have been able to choose its own leaders but still chose to express its disagreement with changing the policy. The BSA then went to bat in court for LDS, Catholic and Baptist churches who were opposed to allowing gay leaders (even if they themselves didn't have to allow it for their troops) Now in 2015 we're back to where the BSA originally intended to take this 14 years ago but over time now the church is now ok with it. The Catholics are likely going to go along with it also, or at least I don't think they'll stop sponsoring units. The Baptists mostly left the BSA 2 years ago when they started to allow gay youth members, so no need to cater to them anymore.

MikeWaters · 07-14-2015, 05:30 PM

The church is falling in line.

Now it remains to be seen if the conservative members of the church will also fall in line.

The ones who have intimated in the hallways that the church will have to leave BSA if gays are let in.

The ones who don't want to send their boys to summer camp because their could be gays there. And the like.

BlueK · 07-14-2015, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

The church is falling in line.

Now it remains to be seen if the conservative members of the church will also fall in line.

The ones who have intimated in the hallways that the church will have to leave BSA if gays are let in.

The ones who don't want to send their boys to summer camp because their could be gays there. And the like.

I have a little insider perspective on this at least from the national BSA side since I worked in the PR and marketing office there. I got hired in 2002 just a few months after they won the supreme court case. We had to be trained on how to respond to the high volume of phone calls we were getting from BSA members and non-BSA folks at the time. I do believe the BSA tried to handle it as professionally and sensitively as they could, but they were in a tough spot. I know for a fact that at least in the BSA offices that they believed the church (and probably the Catholics and Baptists) was going to leave if they didn't fight to uphold the ban on gay leaders. That was pretty scary because it would have represented about a third of their membership between those three combined. Whether that would have really happened or not, I don't know, but I do know the BSA acted as though they believed it.

Also, I think it's fair to point out that at least from the BSA's side, it was never about keeping out gay kids. To my knowledge, not a single kid was ever kicked out over it. But a couple of years ago they just made it official that gay youth were allowed. The church didn't stand opposed then, which I think is what helped lead up to this.

MikeWaters · 07-14-2015, 07:50 PM

My insider perspective is from the spouse of a gay activist....I understand that the BSA has been facing considerable financial pressures due to loss of sponsors and donations, particularly on the east coast. So on the one hand they faced a grim financial future if they kept the ban in place, but if they got rid of the ban and lost a huge part of their membership, that would also be a disaster.

This spouse of the activist told me that the Mormon representative at BSA was very understanding of the gay activists' position.

All this information is 2-3 years old. Haven't talked about it for a long time with this person.

07-13-2015, 10:22 PM	#1
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	BSA looks set to approve gay leaders Church signals that the change is okay as long as the church can ban gays itself. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...y-leaders.html

07-14-2015, 04:07 PM	#2
BlueK Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 2,368	This is actually a change for the church because I believe it was in 2001 when the BSA considered lifting the ban on gay leaders, and even at that time, the church still would have been able to choose its own leaders but still chose to express its disagreement with changing the policy. The BSA then went to bat in court for LDS, Catholic and Baptist churches who were opposed to allowing gay leaders (even if they themselves didn't have to allow it for their troops) Now in 2015 we're back to where the BSA originally intended to take this 14 years ago but over time now the church is now ok with it. The Catholics are likely going to go along with it also, or at least I don't think they'll stop sponsoring units. The Baptists mostly left the BSA 2 years ago when they started to allow gay youth members, so no need to cater to them anymore. Last edited by BlueK; 07-14-2015 at 04:38 PM.

07-14-2015, 05:30 PM	#3
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	The church is falling in line. Now it remains to be seen if the conservative members of the church will also fall in line. The ones who have intimated in the hallways that the church will have to leave BSA if gays are let in. The ones who don't want to send their boys to summer camp because their could be gays there. And the like.

07-14-2015, 07:50 PM	#5
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	My insider perspective is from the spouse of a gay activist....I understand that the BSA has been facing considerable financial pressures due to loss of sponsors and donations, particularly on the east coast. So on the one hand they faced a grim financial future if they kept the ban in place, but if they got rid of the ban and lost a huge part of their membership, that would also be a disaster. This spouse of the activist told me that the Mormon representative at BSA was very understanding of the gay activists' position. All this information is 2-3 years old. Haven't talked about it for a long time with this person.