Good for you DeBoey, for not allowing discrimination in your troop. Way to set an example. We have no right to judge anyone! God loves all.

Bravo, Mr. DeBoey!

It goes against all that the Boy Scouts stand for to let the homosexual agenda infiltrate their organization and destroy it. If the Long Valley Presbyterian church doesn't publicly stand up against this radical change to their troop, they they have lost their way and are no longer a Christian Church. Scouting is not about sexual orientation, it's about learning self reliance and moral character.

so Thomas, gays can't learn self reliance and improve their moral character?

I am confident that there are are many self reliant and moral homosexual people. As there are many straight people who are not moral ^^ A homosexual agenda??? How about just equal rights for humans? Thank you mr. Deboey for your stand as helping to dismiss ignorant,stupid people.

It's a great thing to read about a tolerant and inclusive role model in our community. Compassion for ALL is key in my book. Way to go, Mr. DeBoey!

Good job Mr. DeBoey. It is beyond time that people realize that this ban was ridiculous. It is disgusting that their are some ignorant, bigoted people in this community.

It's all about the money$$$$

The inside word is that the Boy Scouts are going to approve of homosexuals in their ranks because they have been threatened by BIG corporate sponsors to pull their donations.

It's all about the money$$$$

Since the inception of the Boy Scouts, Barack Obama is the only president NOT to sign an Eagle Scout's certificate.

I always get a kick out of these types of forums where the author of a rebuttal begins his or her letter by stating, "..although I am not a homosexual..." Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode, "...not that there is anything wrong with it...." Hey, these are kids, not adults. Like Hookerman, (above), says, a young person would probably be all the way through Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts before sexual orientation ever even entered into the discussion. Let everyone have the same opportunity to have the same type of childhood, the same experiences, the same opportunities. Now having said that, let's keep politics out of organizations like this altogether. If a young man expresses his sexual orientation and it is "against the norm," I for one don't especially want to see Katie Couric in Long Valley interviewing him, Tom Brokaw following the down the river in a canoe, trying to get a sensational picture or story, nor a special merit badge designed for him, (or her), or any other fuss. Just let them be kids. Geesh, isn't everyone sick of "Warhol's 15 minutes of fame" syndrome by now?

Thinking, rational people understand that being gay does NOT make one a pedophile. Most of the people on Scouting's so called "Pervert List" were married men; does that mean we should exclude married men?
Early in his 1st term President Obama didn't sign the first few Eagle Scout certificates for logistical reasons; this was corrected years ago.
Lastly, why is it that some people want certain issues to be decided at the local level, except when they disagree with how it might be handled at the local level, then they want it dictated on a national level.

Thank you Jay for your comments.
As an Assistant Scout Master in Troop 36, I fully support Jay's position and welcome all boys who want to join Scouts and learn to be better citizens.
The values and skills the Boy Scouts imbue are something that EVERYONE can learn from and will carry with them for the rest of their lives.

The one thing I am intolerant of is intolerance!

Sincerely,
John Neubeck
Asst. Scout Master Troop 36

Thank you for the comments everyone. I'm holding back some that I feel are attacks on individuals while being aware of trying not to censure anyone. So, going forward, please keep the attacks, such as "simple-minded" and "idiot" and so on out of your comment. Do not aim at each other. Discuss the issue at hand, stay on-topic, and treat each other fairly, as this is a very contentious issue.

Thank you.

Thomas Lotito, it might be time to stop drinking the bigot Kool Aid and exhibiting your profound ignorance (at least publicly -- what you do in your own bedroom is your business). Your twisted views on your gay neighbors,fellow Americans and tax payers, however comfortable you are in sharing them with Long Valley and beyond, are both prehistoric and embarrassing (although I'd bet my bottom dollar that it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of your pathology) .

I applaud Mr. DeBoey. He is not only doing the right thing, his inclusiveness is leading future American adults by an exemplary example and will be listed on the correct side of history -- in both our town and our country.

I am saddened to see that the BSA has decided to postpone the vote on this issue. Personally, I will have a hard time encouraging my sons to join an organization with a stated policy of discrimination - it runs contrary to the value system I'm teaching them. It is time that the Boy Scouts do the right thing.

I applaud Mr. DeBoey.

Asserting that gays are more likely to molest children is absurd, and importantly, contrary to studies on the issue. There is no correlation between pedophilia and homosexuality. That is a known fact. The person who believes otherwise is the person who would have believed the propaganda that the brains of Jews were abnormally small back in Nazi Germany. Blind, ignorant belief in that which is false but supports what you want to believe. Pathetic.

there's always some idiot who thinks gay=pedophile. what's next, the "worldwide jewish conspiracy"?

Maybe I'm missing a trick here, but I think this misses the point. This was never really about barring 6 year old gay kids, I remember it being over openly gay scoutmasters.

And Mr. DeBooey, despite all the attaboys, is just saying he'll go along with the national BSA decision. If he wants to be a crusader, go AGAINST their currently bigoted policy. Name a gay assistant scoutmaster, or do something overtly tolerant like a well-publicized joint activity with the Gay Straight Alliance group at West Morris Central.

How about a Patch-sponsored BSA/GSA roundtable.

Here is their webpage with the contact coordinator:
http://central.wmrhsd.org/faculty_site/facultyPage.asp?pageID=4176&facultyID=293

I'm sure Jason would love the accompanying Pulitzer for the coverage.

what does the church have to do with it? last time i looked, you didn't need to be a christian to be a scout...

There are more documented and abbhorant acts by Catholic Priests then gay scout masters abusing the trust of children and parents.....if that is what the "fear" is about...now compare that with all the other "proper" heterosexual abuses of teacher/student, parent/child, neighbor, caregiver.....etc...And a good gay Scout Master's sexaully is equally meaningless to me as a heterosexual one.

I for one am glad they are throwing this policy to the wind. I had a hard time deciding if I was going to let me son join an organization that discriminated against certain groups. I never understood it really anyway, as others have pointed out, many boys would not know they were gay until they were almost done with the boy scouts:) And homosexuals are not pedophiles. They let mothers be den leaders, what if we had one of those crazy cougar love messes like that teacher and that young boy? kids of all orientations see each other naked in the locker room anyway so what does it matter...let them be kids

Thomas:

Here's a Wayback link to the letter than appeared on the Greater Alabama Boy Scouts of America web site regarding this issue:

http://web.archive.org/web/20101211195645/http://1bsa.org/article.php?cn=275&account=

You may have to remove the tin foil from your Stetson, but you should be able to see that your friend is incorrect.

I think the reason that this is so flammable an issue is that many people don't understand whether sexual preferences are nature or nurture. Some people say they know one way or the other, but we also know people who are bi or whose preferences have changed and that muddies it.

If you believe that sexual preference may be nurture, to some degree, than the tolerance or the placement of an openly gay scoutleader in a leadership role for your young boy hits at a very deep and ingrained value -- the propagation of your genes. It is a biologically wired imperative to protect your children from harm -- so they can procreate. While recently science and society may have opened answers to gay couples procreating, the biases to raise your kids to be heterosexual extenders of your DNA has been wired in there since we were chimps.

Again, the precedent is best established by considering the extreme scenario, which, of course, is best illustrated by the distinguished academic work in the South Park episode where Gay Al gets kicked out as a Scout leader.

To echo the above, it is nice to say that this local scoutleader would "go along with" tolerance.....but why is he a part of an intolerant organization then now?

Thank you for being a voice of reason Mr. DeBoey!

Maybe you should tell Boy Scouts change the rule or we create our own Organization.

Bravo Beth. The Boy Scouts train the kids to be good citizens and leaders. Why would
We want to leave anyone out. We have so much prejudice today. Please take
The steps to stop it.
My husband was a Boy Scout who went all the way to the Silver Beaver award. He always
Kept in touch with his scouts. He came from a small town in Texas during the depression.
The only thing they had was the Boy Scouts and they all turned out to be very
Accomplished adults. Please keep the tradition going.