The Boy Scouts of America vote to allow gay youth into their organization....so what?

    Earlier today, the Boy Scouts of America voting members voted to officially "allow" openly gay boys and teenagers (under the age of 18) to enter (or continue in some cases) in Scouting, as of January 1, 2014. However, the organization will still not allow openly gay or lesbian adults to participate in Scouting in leadership positions. This decision will cause many troops and packs to lose their sponsorships, since a large majority of such have been sponsored by a variety of religious groups, many (probably nearly all) of which do not support equal rights of LGBT persons on religious and/or personal grounds. The fact that the Boy Scouts made this decision (perhaps long overdue) despite knowing the above would "probably" occur as a result is a good thing.
    It is interesting to note that the Girl Scouts have no such bans on minor girls nor women participating in their organization in their leadership positions and have no issues as a result. Yet, the male side of Scouting has all this craziness going on and have had such going on for years. This double standard makes no sense, except that it fits with how society in this country currently is, which makes less sense to me. As a person of color, I have yet to see how this should mean much of anything to me. I am sure Black, Native American and Hispanic boys have participated in Scouting, but I have yet to see any one other than a Caucasian man or teenager comment or be interviewed about this controversy, much less any story about Scouting that I have ever seen or heard of. Consider that. Doesn't sound too good to me.
   What do I think? Earlier tonight, I posted on my Facebook page that I wanted to hear what others thought about all of this and that I would post my personal thoughts on this blog tonight. I am writing this between 952pm and 1042pm, EDT on May 23, 2013, before I re-log onto Facebook later tonight or tomorrow to see what others think so that this post would not be affected by the opinions of others.
    My opinion is that this decision really means little in the grand scheme of things. This decision is a joke. I was never in Scouting, but it is my understanding was that Scouting was about developing young people in a positive manner, teaching them life skills and how to be a better person. Considering that most people do not really develop their sexuality until their teenage years at the earliest, I am not understanding where sexuality matters here. The statement the BSA gave indicated that sexual conduct of any kind was contrary to the goals of Scouting. Okay. What else is new?
     What I cannot reconcile is that how is it that (openly) lesbian and bisexual women (as far as I know, men cannot be leaders in the Girl Scouts) can be leaders and help develop young girls in the Girl Scouts with no problems, yet these same women NOR openly gay or bisexual men, including those who participated in the Boy Scouts as youth themselves (some as closeted gay or bisexual youth, you have to figure)  are NOT good enough to be leaders and help develop young boys in the Boy Scouts? Why the double standard? Are women truly more morally responsible than men, regardless of their sexuality? Somebody explain this BS to me.
    I understand that no one wants to expose their children to those who may do them harm and/or influence them to things that conflict with the parents' personal beliefs when they are not around. As a parent, I agree with that. However, a teenager who is 16 or 17 years old has much of what he OR she needs to make major life decisions for their adult life. Choosing one's sexuality is one if those decisions, and these are decisions that require support and understanding. For some, especially when it comes to decisions like one's sexuality, or where one wishes to go to college, or who to be friends with, that support cannot be gotten at home. Hence, a clergy member, a teacher, a troop leader or den mother may be the only support some of these youth have.
   Deliberately banning certain adults from these leadership positions solely because of his OR her known chosen sexuality is wrong and dumb, ESPECIALLY if these persons participated in Scouting as a young person themselves. They, of all people, know what it takes to be a Scout and have put in the blood sweat time and tears to achieve in the program. They, of all people, have the skills and knowledge to teach such to youngsters because other adults TAUGHT these skills to THEM. To waste that knowledge and expertise, because some folk (allegedly) disagree with certain life choices that these persons made as adults, which are to be honest, none of Scouting's business in the first place is downright STUPID!
   Today's decision makes the Boy Scouts no better than they were yesterday or at any time in their history. It still leaves them as a racist and homophobic group, compared to the Girl Scouts and certainly NOT on a even level with them. This process was a waste of time and effort that will mean virtually nothing, in my opinion. All it does is further hurt the organization and every Scout that has been in the program as a youth and/or as a adult. Period.

Why is it a problem to be a pro athlete and be homosexual (or bisexual)?

  A few days ago, Jason Collins became the first MALE active player in one of the "major" American team sports to come out of the closet as a homosexual. Good for him. That is great. My question is, what does his (or anyone's) sexual preference have to do with his abilities or performance on the field of sport? A few days before that, Brittney Griner, the All-American center for Baylor who was picked Number 1 overall in this year's WNBA draft, did the same, coming out as a lesbian.  Fewer comments were made. The difference between the two, other than age (he is over a decade older) and gender? He is a man, she is a woman. So?
   It has long been accepted in most circles other than most Church environments or in the minds of seriously crazy folk that it is okay if a WOMAN is homosexual or (especially if she is a) bisexual. True, women's sports is less popular and is more feminine and some of those athletes may well be little than eye candy to some who watch them perform (pro wrestling, boxing, cheerleaders and  MMA notwithstanding). That does not mean that women in their pro or college sport are any less passionate or give a damn about what they are doing any less than men do about theirs, just because there are less nasty hits and they have more...curves and obvious assets than men..you know.
   Still, there have been several female athletes who have have come out openly as gay or bi in their private life. Some have done it while still actively pursuing their sport and income, knowing the (alleged) financial and personal (reputation) risk of doing so. Many female actors, some A-list ones, have done the same and/or have played roles on TV and/or in the movies that portray such activity, some rather graphically. MEN, with very few exceptions, have not in EITHER realm. Why is that?
   It is the feeling that, in general, and especially in sports, it is not cool for a man to be gay or bisexual. The feeling is that the public does not want to see gay or bi men openly doing whatever in front of them, even if such activities have nothing to do with ANY kind of sex. Male sports are also considered to be so macho and those who do it at the college and/or professional level are considered to be so much that to have a openly gay or bi male teammate would hurt or destroy the chemistry of the locker room or possibly the entire sport. Poppycock!
    As the debate rages on about gay marriage and whether committed same-sex couples should have the same rights as married heterosexual couples (why not???), one has to think...what is the ******* big deal. The debate about having homosexuals in the military was settled with the repeal of  "don't ask, don't tell recently". The negative effect of allowing homosexuals (and bisexuals) serving openly in our armed forces? Practically ZERO.
   Let's get real. Our military is a 100% volunteer force. Many countries REQUIRE virtually all of their young men (sometimes women too) to do military service in their 20s. The USA does not. Hence, EVERY man and woman who chooses to wear that uniform for this country and sacrifice so much of themselves...sometimes everything....to protect you and me at home and/or abroad is a HERO. The last thing we need to be worrying about is who he or she likes to get intimate with when off-duty. I would only care if he or she can operate that tank, shoot that M-16 rifle and protect our asses from those who would do all Americans harm, like what just happened in Boston, or on 9-11 or hell, any other day? American lives (and those of our allies, even those who hate us, around the world) and interests are at risk EVERY day. These men and women are our front-line defenders. Their families help support them and keep them grounded so they can ******* do their jobs at the best of their abilities every day, too. Remember that.
   So what is different about sports or entertainment from the military? Other than the weapons...lol...not much. Each person doing such makes a COMMITMENT to work to be the best at their chosen endeavor and be compensated for it, sometimes very well (military folk and their families should get more than they get, but that is another blog for another day!!!). They sacrifice a lot to entertain us in whatever way they do so. Again, why should we really care who he OR she wants to be intimate with when off the field, or away from the movie set or TV set?
   Earvin (Magic) Johnson's son also recently came out openly as homosexual, too. Does he deserve scorn or worse any more or less than Brittney, or Jason, or any other gay or bisexual man or woman in the public eye (or average citizen or teenager), like Anna Paquin or Anderson Cooper and so on and so on? What does it matter to you? Should it?
   Studies have said that around 10 percent of the US population identifies themselves as homosexual. That means they only want to be intimate with others of his or her same sex, and NOT at all with the other one. I argue that maybe another 5-10 (if not more) of what is left is either openly (and privately) a homosexual, a bisexual or transgendered. Totally unscientific, no proof of that other than what I have seen in my relatively short life.
   But I know I am right. How do I know? I know that for every woman who you have seen do some sort of lesbian and/or bisexual thing (or talk about it) on some reality show, some movie, some TV show or cable, HBO or elsewhere, there are 100 more women in the general public who have done the same or are doing it right now. And for every 100 women who are doing such, there are at least 10 men who are closeted gay men, are closeted bisexual (meaning they are down for stuff with EITHER sex) men and or may be closeted (or even open) cross-dressers and/or transsexuals in some form. When you add all this up (if you could if everyone was honest on this, and many would not be if EVER asked, even without repercussions for answering honestly), that adds up to a LOT of people, of all races, religions and so on. Can't stop it, can't deny it.
   So, back to sports. So where does anything above this sentence matter in sports? I watch sports to see my teams or those I support in individual sports win. Their sexuality doesn't matter to me (and no one can sit here and say there isn't some pro athlete or actor or actress or musician that they would do almost anything to hang out and/or be intimate with them just once...seriously.). And some of these folk have the bodies that EVERYONE agrees is nice (or whatever clean or vulgar terms you would use in this case). I want to see scores and wins. Movies and TV are different, true. But few of us get the chance to meet these famous folks or shake their hand and speak directly to them in person, much less more than that. So we can dream..lol.
   These athletes do not need hear folk telling them they are going to hell for being gay. Their being gay or bi is really none of the general public's business. They are choosing to be open about such to help others who cannot be open about such because their life situation (and the people around them) prevent such. People have been disfigured, beaten or even killed and/or committed suicide (some very recently) because others found out he or she was gay (much less bisexual..another topic for another blog!!!). Sixty years ago (and even today), Black folk IN THIS COUNTRY were being beaten or killed for demanding the equal rights under the law that the US Constitution guarantees for all Americans (Dr. King and Medgar Evers being two of many). Should any of this really be that serious? Really? What happened to tolerance of everyone's differences? Is that not what makes THIS country different that every other one on this planet? Is that not part of the reason this country is the strongest country in the world after only about 235 years or so of existence? Hate is hate, no matter what the reason or what form it takes. It is ALL WRONG. Fight hate, fight intolerance, embrace diversity and understanding and compassion for your fellow man AND woman. Do that and this country gets better AND stronger for ALL of US! That will then rub off on other countries too. Seriously.