Seattle lawyer returns Eagle Scout badge to protest gay ban
SEATTLE (AP) - A Seattle lawyer is turning in his Eagle Scout badge in protest of the Boy Scouts of America's ban on gays.
Joseph Shaeffer is a civil rights and employment attorney with the firm McDonald, Hoague and Bayless. He says he was a scout in Tallahassee, Fla., and became an Eagle Scout in 1987.
He mailed back his badge last week, saying he was joining hundreds of other Eagle Scouts in protest. He wrote that "instead of living up to its values, the Boy Scouts have chosen to exclude people because of who they love."
The organization has been wrestling with the issue. The 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council will vote May 20 on a proposal to allow sponsors of individual Scout units to decide whether to admit gays.
About 70 percent of all Scout units are sponsored by religious denominations, including many by conservative faiths that have supported the ban, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Mormon church, and the Southern Baptist Convention.
Joseph Shaeffer is a civil rights and employment attorney with the firm McDonald, Hoague and Bayless. He says he was a scout in Tallahassee, Fla., and became an Eagle Scout in 1987.
He mailed back his badge last week, saying he was joining hundreds of other Eagle Scouts in protest. He wrote that "instead of living up to its values, the Boy Scouts have chosen to exclude people because of who they love."
The organization has been wrestling with the issue. The 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council will vote May 20 on a proposal to allow sponsors of individual Scout units to decide whether to admit gays.
About 70 percent of all Scout units are sponsored by religious denominations, including many by conservative faiths that have supported the ban, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Mormon church, and the Southern Baptist Convention.
I think that it great that this guy had gut enough to stand up and turn in his Eagle Scout Badge. I wouldn't want some one like him contaminating my beloved Boy Scouts if that's the way he thinks.
I see that the Gay Mafia has seen to it that my comment was deleted because I used the word "aberrant".
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Apparently free speech is only available to those that concur with the gay majority in Seattle.
Homosexuals make up approximately 4% of the population yet they want to impact 96% of the population and 100% of scouting. Â Live and let live and leave the Boy Scouts alone. Â If you do not agree with their morals, principles, oath and law then don't join this private organization. Â It's not that difficult of a concept. Â I don't want anything to do with the Man Boy Love Association but they would love to infiltrate scouting.
 @Utsalady I couldn't have said it better!!!
True Eagle Scouts ARE NOT QUITTERS...
The attacks on this topic are sad. What we should be focusing on is what happened. A scout turned in his eagle scout badge. This is not easy to earn. However as a lawyer this man is a manipulator of words and has forgotten the Boy Scout Oath. Oath being the key word. We as a people no longer take an oath seriously, whether it is marriage vows of The Boy Scout Oath. Perhaps he should go back and read the part about do my duty to God..... Homophobic? I hope that I am not but I am a Christian. 1 Timothy 1:10
AMEN & AMEN
It's amazing the number of homophobic individuals who show up to the discussion, endorsing and campaigning for the continued mistreatment and discrimination of people. Give it a rest already.
 @what? A "phobia" is a fear of something. I do not "fear" homosexuals, but I do find their practice repulsive. I also do not "hate" them. I just avoid associating with them.
1 Corinthians 15:33 says "Do not be deceived, 'bad company corrupts good morals."Â
I say that the lawyer is
1) showboating
2) making the right choice because he is unworthy of the Scouting program
3) a fool.
I don't appreciate the term " homophobe" in the discussion of this. It implies that if you disagree or don't endorse homosexual activity/lifestyle/etc. that you have a mental disorder of some sort.
So are gay people "heterophobes" ? I know plenty of Muslims that I really like, but I don't subscribe to their beleif system, so am I a "Islamophobe" ? Are they now "Christaphobes" ?
We should quit pinning mental disorder impliying words on people we disagree with.
Have an honest adn respectful discussion and quit the name calling.
No wonder the country can't get anything done.
@hardtowatchitfade   true enough. . .   Â
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 @jdoll88 Men having many wives was the standard for a while.  Aberrant much?
@ETSubmariner @jdoll88 I could not agree more.Â
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@KleineZeitung wow. Hate much?
 @KleineZeitung Wow. So very eloquently put. So just because someone is gay, they're automatically a pedophile? Nice. I don't think it's the world that's gone mad. I suggest you look a little closer to home for that...
I hope you don't live near my home....
He obviously did this to advertise his firm. It's pathetic that he waited until now, so he could get the most attention out of it. He doesn't care, he just wanted attention.
 @Tacoma ER Doc The timing is extremely suspicious, not to mention turning it into a PR event. If people want to make a statement by doing this great, thats America. If the Boy Scouts want to maintain traditional values then fine thats America too.
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 @Jack60 How about you learn how to spell first? An educated society is a better society. Unless your only aspirations in life are to ask the question 'would you like fries with that' repeatedly...
I'm not sure why this is news worthy, or why all of a sudden he chose now to "stand up" for his beliefs.Â
So you sent your Eagle Scout badge back. Do we really care?â¦â¦â¦â¦.no
I just choose not be part of any group that has pollicies and trends that I don't appreciate or agree with.
I don't expect people to change for me or my ideals.
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 @hardtowatchitfade No, but you can address them so that your ideals are made available as a counterpoint or feedback into a system that can only evolve with many inputs.
Why would I choose to join a group that has an implicitly different beleif system than I do ?
Who's beleif system/world view is more valid ? Do we all have to think and felel the same about everything now ?
Has the right "to" become more powerful than the right "from" ?
Evolve ? They aren't asking for my input.
Their core beleifs are different than mine. Why is it my job to help/force/manipulate them to "evolve" ?Â
 I say leave them alone. We all don't have to think alike, do we?
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 @hardtowatchitfade This is a great point...People are jumping so quick to the conclusion that, because they do not allow gays in the BSA, they are now homophobes.
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It is a fine line between different belief and being judgmental...but too many people are considering it the same thing and would have us all be the same in thought and belief.Â
@hardtowatchitfade I really wish more people thought like you (and I) do.
Good example Joe. Instead of staying involved and making a case for what you believe in, even if it takes a long time, just send the badge back and up and quit. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.
As a long time (50 year) Scout and Scouter, I too have some problems with the policy, but I have a deep respect for those who have serious moral reservations. We'll work this out, but it will take some time. The worst thing we can do is to make a quick, feel good change, with no thought as to the ramifications and wheter the cure is worse than the problem. That is the job of Congress.
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@NoEyeInTeam It peobably would have been too difficult anyway. No one likes a quitter.
Top Scout leadership has been lost for some time. In the 70s, they wanted to expand the membership to intercity youth and lost the "OUT OF DOORS" programs. The lack of parental involvement has led to inappropriate relationships and now in over-reaction, they wish to abandon tolerance & understanding - a one god pony show.
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This 80 yr scout, scout master, adult leader is saddened at what our youth is loosing.
Dear KOMO,
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Why is this worthy of a news story?
 @mjlaw Hmmmmm, yet you not only clicked on the story, but you also took the time to comment on it. I suspect if you think about that hard enough, you'd have your answer.
So he was okay with the ban on gays for 26 years, but now wants the world to know that he is protesting the ban. Â Â
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There's a good lawyer joke In there somewhere.
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 @Opus8no5 How about 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
Good!!! That's your right!!
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And it's "their right" as a private organization to allow only leaders they deem appropriate.
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Next story please... maybe without a liberal minority slant meant to intimidate and sway opinions of the public!!!
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Let's protect the FIRST AMENDMENT "EQUALLY"!!!!!!
 @blaster You are exorcising your first amendment rights right here. It's about voicing your opinion. Discrimination however is not covered by the first amendment.
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You are correct though as much as it pains me to admit it. The boy scouts are a private organization. And as such, they have just as much right to discriminate against their members as the KKK does.
 @what?  @blaster They are not discriminating against "their members". They are discriminating against those they feel do not fit in with the standards of their organization.
dis·crim·i·nat·ing  (d-skrm-ntng)adj.1.a. Able to recognize or draw fine distinctions; perceptive.b. Showing careful judgment or fine taste.
I am just wondering why it is until now that he has finally found his spine. Â I have had nothing to do with scouts since I learned of their bigotry 15 years ago. Â I make sure to chat up the Girl Scouts leader whenever I see them selling cookies in front of a store. Â I on the other hand let the Boy Scouts know how I feel when I see them outside a store trying the same. Â
@somegoofyguy It's pretty sad that you "let the boy scouts know how you feel" considering the boys and scoutmasters you see have nothing to do with the rulemaking... whine much?
 @somegoofyguy Better to send your feelings to your local BSA council! The boys and their leaders that you scorn have no control over this ban and often times have also sent in their objections but have no real say over the situation. It's not like we get to vote in a forum on these issues! I know personally we've expressed our objections to the ban. It's ridiculous to ban gay or lesbian parents from a leadership role in a boy's life when it can be difficult to get some parents to step up in a pack/troup as it is. Even worse to tell a boy he suddenly "unworthy" of being a scout, simply because he has discovered he is gay? Like he had control of that. There are many of us that are a thorn in the local council's backside over this frequently. If you want to be effective in your complaints, take it to them!
 @somegoofyguy Remember though, the boys involved in Boy Scouts don't make the rules and don't deserve the blame for what the national leadership does.
In other news: NOBODY CARES.
 @Dredd57 Yet here you are, making asinine comments.
 @Fooey Patooey!  @Dredd57 Now that's an ironic statement coming from "Fooey Patooey!"
Why did he belong in the first place? Â The ban was on when he got it wasn't it? Â
 @outofmadison Where does it say in the article that he's gay?
@JK15 @outofmadison I think you're missing the point JK15. If it was deemed acceptable to ban gays back then, then why is he complaining now?  Well you can argue that we have either evolved into a much more accepting society, or that we are losing our morals and values . Your choice.
 @Tacoma ER Doc "I miss those days..."
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So do you miss the days where mixed race marriages were banned and minorities weren't allowed to use the same facilities that the rest of the population had access to?
@Tacoma ER Doc Amen my friend...Amen.
@dylandawgie I miss those days...
@stamperzann @JK15 Whether or not it was discussed is not that important. I think we all remember when gay bashing was quite acceptable in public. It wasn't that long ago as you probably remember. With that in mind, it's my guesss that the scouts knew gays were not allowed in their organization and many others for that matter.
 @dylandawgie  @JK15 My guess is that the gay issue wasn't discussed when he was a scout.  He may not have even known at the time.