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  • 18
    Jul
    2012
    11:44am, EDT

    Lesbian mom on Boy Scouts: We'll keep fighting anti-gay policy

    Courtesy of GLAAD

    Jennifer Tyrrell, right, addresses the media with her partner, Alicia, after delivering a petition to the Boy Scouts of America in Dallas, Tex., on Wednesday in which she calls for an end to the private group's policy banning gay Scouts and leaders.

    By Miranda Leitsinger, Staff Writer, NBC News

    A woman who was ousted as the head of her son’s Tiger Cubs pack because she is a lesbian on Wednesday delivered a petition with more than 300,000 signatures to the Boy Scouts urging them to end their longstanding policy banning gay Scouts and leaders, saying the organization’s recent decision to stick with the controversial membership standards will not end her campaign.

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    Jennifer Tyrrell, a 32-year-old, stay-at-home mother of four, was removed from her post as den master in April because she is a lesbian. She has been fighting since then to get the Boy Scouts to change its longstanding policy, starting an online petition calling for the change.

    But on Tuesday, the private organization said it was keeping the ban on open or avowed homosexuals.

    "I feel like this isn’t going to deter me because I truly love Scouts and I truly ... want to see this change take place, and not just for myself, but for families and children everywhere who have flooded me with emails thanking me for having the courage to stand up because they actually, you know, couldn’t," she told NBC News just after handing over the petition and meeting with two Boy Scouts representatives at the private group's headquarters in Texas.

    MSNBC's Thomas Roberts talks to Zach Wahls, Eagle Scout and author of "My Two Moms," who petitioned the Boy Scouts to drop the policy banning gay Scouts and leaders that the organization recently decided it would keep.

     


    The three large boxes that Tyrrell gave to the group also contained comments from current and former Scouts and leaders who support ending the policy. Wearing her den master uniform, she was joined by two of her children and her partner, Alicia Burns.

    An Ohio woman who says she was ousted as a den leader by the Boy Scouts of America because she is gay. KXAS reporter Amanda Guerra has the story.

    The purpose of the meeting was not to discuss changing the policy, BSA spokesman Deron Smith said in an email to NBC News, but to listen and to receive the petition.

    “The Boy Scouts of America works to treats everyone with courtesy and respect," he said. "The discussion was mutually cordial and very respectful. The BSA values the freedom of everyone to express their opinion and believes to disagree does not mean to disrespect.”

    Tyrrell said the representatives were polite and professional during the 10-minute meeting, but that "they don't see any change in the future" on the policy. She said they were adamant that the right decision had been made in deciding to maintain the policy after a recent confidential review of it, but also said they were saddened by what happened to her though it was in line with their membership standards.

    "It was a very respectful meeting. I think it was productive. I think ... we were both willing to listen," she said, but "we disagree still."

    Two of Jennifer Tyrrell's children and her partner, Alicia, wait while Tyrrell speaks to the media after delivering more than 300,000 signatures to the Boy Scouts of America at the group's headquarters in Dallas, Tex., on Wednesday.

    She said she told them, "'Well, I guess I’ll see you in the future because we’re going to keep on meeting until we win.”

    The Boy Scouts said Tuesday that it began a confidential review of the policy in 2010, convening a diverse committee of 11 senior volunteers and professional leaders to review the membership standards after a resolution was put forward to reconsider them. The committee reached a "unanimous consensus" that it was the "best policy" for the BSA, Smith said. That conclusion was shared at a February board meeting and recently reviewed by the officers of the board.


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    “The vast majority of the parents of youth we serve value their right to address issues of same-sex orientation within their family, with spiritual advisers, and at the appropriate time and in the right setting,” Bob Mazzuca, chief scout executive of the Boy Scouts, said in a statement. “While a majority of our membership agrees with our policy, we fully understand that no single policy will accommodate the many diverse views among our membership or society.”

    The review was conducted confidentially "to allow the committee to make the best decision for the organization," Smith said.

    Boy Scouts: We're keeping policy banning gays
    Boy Scouts review controversial anti-gay policy
    Eagle Scout son of lesbian moms: Boy Scouts must end gay discrimination
    Gay mom upset after dismissal by Boy Scouts
    Boy Scouts board member opposes anti-gay policy

    Tyrrell said she asked the Boy Scouts if they could provide documentation about the review, but her request was declined.

    “I would actually like a little bit of proof backing up what they say,” she said before the meeting. “They think that all the Scout parents feel that this is a bad move, they don’t want to change the policy. They’ve never provided any proof saying that. I have proof. I have over 316,000 signatures on a petition,” plus comments from many “relaying the message this is why we want to see this policy changed.”

    “The discrimination with adults is bad enough, but you can’t be a gay Scout, either, so that’s … [a] dangerous message that you’re sending the kids, that they are not good enough, that they’re not accepted,” she added. “It’s just not fair to treat children that way and it’s not fair to tell parents that you can’t be involved in your child’s life. So, we’re not going to stop until every parent can participate in Scouts with their child.”

    In June, the Boy Scouts said it was considering another resolution proposed at the group's annual meeting the month before that also called for ending the policy. But the decision announced Tuesday means the Scouts’ board will take no more action on that resolution and had no plans to further review the issue, Smith said.

    The Boy Scouts’ policy became a focus of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000, when the justices sided with the organization in a lawsuit involving a former assistant Scoutmaster who was gay, citing the protections of the First Amendment.

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    1491 comments

    Why do YOU have to be so intolerant of a private organizations rules? Where is YOUR tolerance for those who do not want homosexuality around their children. Just as I have to be tolerant of YOU in society it is not right that YOU force your way of life on me. Shall I force YOU to attend my church? S …

    Show more
    Explore related topics: of, boy, gay, american, cubs, lesbian, ban, policy, banning, tiger, scouts, membership, homosexuals
  • 26
    Apr
    2012
    3:51pm, EDT

    Gay mom upset after dismissal by Boy Scouts

    Jennifer Tyrrell, who was ousted as a den mother for her son's Cub Scout troop because of her sexual orientation, is fighting back. Tyrrell talks to msnbc's Thomas Roberts about her petition to change the Boy Scouts of America's long-standing policy on banning open or avowed homosexuals.

    By Miranda Leitsinger, Staff Writer, NBC News

     

    Jennifer Tyrrell and her 7-year-old son have had many rewarding experiences with the Boy Scouts of America, but their participation in the national organization came to an end because she is gay, and the group does not allow open or avowed homosexuals in their membership.

    Follow @mimileitsinger

    Tyrrell learned the news on April 10. The loss has been devastating.


    “We were like a family, so in essence … we lost our scouting family, but they also lost two members of their scouting family,” the former Tiger Cubs den leader from Bridgeport, Ohio, told msnbc.com, at points breaking down into tears.

    “The best time in our lives we’ve had in the last year, it’s gone … because we can’t be scouts any more. I can’t stop crying,” she later added.

    Tyrrell, a 32-year-old stay at home mother of four, said she agreed to become the den master on the day she signed up her son, Cruz Burns, for the local troop, last year. She had concerns about the Boy Scouts' policy against homosexuals, but a Cubmaster said that – locally -- they wouldn’t have problem.

    “He said they would stand, you know, hand in hand with us and stand behind us all the way. Well, actually, that's been true,” she said. “I've never had a problem.”

    Boy Scouts spokesman Deron Smith said Tyrrell was removed from the program for being in violation of the national policy regarding homosexuals.

    “This policy was understood by her and her fellow volunteers, but not followed, upon her registering in the program,” he wrote in an email to msnbc.com.

    Tyrrell said she would still be at home, crying on the couch, if her friends hadn’t encouraged her to hold a protest in town against her dismissal and start a campaign online to seek changes to the Boy Scouts policy.

    Courtesy of Jennifer Tyrrell

    Jennifer Tyrrell and her son Cruz Burns.

    That petition has garnered more than 170,000 signatures

    The Boy Scouts’ policy became a focus of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000, when the justices sided with the organization in a lawsuit involving a former Assistant Scoutmaster who was gay, citing the protections of the First Amendment.

    “Scouting, and the majority of parents it serves, does not believe it is the right forum for children to become aware of the issue of sexual orientation, or engage in discussions about being gay. Rather, such complex matters should be discussed with parents, caregivers, or spiritual advisers, at the appropriate time and in the right setting,” Smith said. “We fully understand and appreciate that not everyone will agree with any one position or policy.”

    But Tyrrell said sexual orientation wasn’t a topic until her dismissal. The children just knew that Cruz had two moms, but there was no further discussion about sexuality.

    She also questioned the timing of the revoking of her membership, claiming that as the recently-appointed treasurer, she was trying to iron out some financial discrepancies – and was going to formally make her queries at a meeting the day she was removed.

    “She did raise question about the local unit’s finances, however her removal from the program was solely for being in violation of national policy,” Smith wrote. 

    Tyrrell said she will continue to push for changes at the Boy Scouts and called on them to take “the high road” and change their policy to include “all Americans.”

    “… because we’re just people,” she said. “We’re just gay people who love their kids.”

     

    1767 comments

    their a non profite orginzation i believe so they dont nessacarily have to accept certain ones into the boy scouts... its their choice whether or not to let them stay in or dismiss them from it period. don't really care who supports the gay family ...the boy scouts have the right to do whatever they …

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    Explore related topics: of, boy, america, gay, court, leader, cubs, tiger, homosexual, scouts, supreme, den

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