Just Take the Train

Another experience from Connie:

"In 1964, at the age of 13, I attended the Boy Scout Jamboree at Valley Forge. The council arranged for us to be transported across the country in Pullman railroad cars. The compartments were designed for one person, two if intimacy was desired. Despite the intimacy thing, we were made to "buddy up". To this day, I'm not sure why the "buddy" assigned to me happened to be the most obviously gay kid in the troupe. Maybe I wasn't as convincing with my overcompensation as I thought. For two weeks, as we choo-chooed across the country, I was teased by many of the boys and called "homo". All I could do was up my overcompensation, and I got in a couple of fist fights (something I had tried hard to avoid my whole life). 

Inside the compartment, it was like "The Odd Couple" - my Oscar to Bruce's (yes, his name really was Bruce) Felix. At night, attempting to sleep with a gay boy in a single bed really brought out the homophobia in me. Of course, in those days, I wasn't sure just what I was myself - but being gay was one of the possibilities that I was reluctantly imagining. (to play on your words, I was not interested in "finding" Bruce's "accepting unit"). It's not that he ever tried to do anything, but I worked at being as antagonistic as I could toward him so that he wouldn't take a liking to me at all. It's really too bad, as we each had our respective "secrets" and could have bonded and supported each other had we felt free to talk about them.

Just as we reached New York, I picked a fight with Bruce that ended our "roomie" arrangement, as the scoutmaster finally realized we were not a good match. The teasing stopped for me then, but, looking back at it, I imagine we all looked a little gay in our summer uniforms - shorts with knee-highs held up by tasseled garters - as we walked the streets of NYC. If only I could have been a Girl Scout and have been able to wear a skirt with those knee-highs!"

Could have been a kilt!!! Even in 1964 that had to have been one hell of a long train ride with a bunch of "tweener" boys!

LGBT News

Two articles of interest:

"The Boy Scouts of America has changed its policy to admit transgender youth who identify as male, marking the latest change in LGBT inclusion for the nearly 106-year-old institution.

Effie Delimarkos, director of communications for the Boy Scouts of America, confirmed the change to the Washington Blade in a statement amid widespread media reports of the new policy.“Starting today, we will accept and register youth in the Cub and Boy Scout programs based on the gender identity indicated on the application,” Delimarkos said. “Our organization’s local councils will help find units that can provide for the best interest of the child.”      

 My Son in Law and Grandsons are very active in scouting and to my knowledge even wear some sort of an Equality Merit Badge. So, I wonder if the national organization will not "force" a local program to accept a transgender boy? Just (as they said) find an accepting unit.  

And:

"White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Monday declined to discuss an anti-LGBT executive order from President Trump amid reports such a directive is in the works.

In response to a question from the Washington Blade, Spicer said he wouldn’t get ahead of Trump on any potential executive order he may sign.

“I’m not getting ahead of the executive orders that we may or may not issue,” Spicer said. “There’s a lot of executive orders, a lot of things the president has talked about and will continue to fulfill, but we have nothing on that front now.”

The potential executive order gained attention Monday after the Human Rights Campaign issued a statement acknowledging rumors it about and expressing concerns about executive actions that would rollback LGBT rights."

Both of these stories came from the Washington Blade...for more on "45" (Trump) go here.

No real surprise, right?

                                                   

Huge Step For Scouting

From ABC News:

" The Boy Scouts of America today voted to lift its longtime national ban on admitting openly gay Scouts but will continue to exclude openly gay adults from leadership roles. The vote by its 1,400 national membership came as no surprise to gay rights advocates, who hailed it as a first step to ending discriminatory practices in the 103-year-old organization.

The Boy Scouts said that it had completed its "most comprehensive listening exercise in Scouting's history" on the issue and will change its policy Jan. 1, 2014. "The Boy Scouts of America will not sacrifice its mission, or the youth served by the movement, by allowing the organization to be consumed by a single, divisive and unresolved societal issue," it said in a statement.

 "While people have different opinions about this policy, we can all agree that kids are better off when they are in Scouting," it said. "Going forward, our Scouting family will continue to focus on reaching and serving youth in order to help them grow into good, strong citizens. America's youth need Scouting, and by focusing on the goals that unite us, we can continue to accomplish incredible things for young people and the communities we serve." President of the Boy Scouts of America Wayne Perry, in a press conference following the vote, said, "This is a very difficult decision for a lot of people, but we're moving forward together. ... Our vision is to serve every kid."

I am so happy my ten year old grandson does not have to leave the Boy Scouts he loves with his Dad as he said he would if the organization continued to exclude LGBT people.!!!

SMOOCH!

Everyonce in a while Mother Karma comes along and lays a big fat gooey Smooch on me. The latest one was this morning and I am still trying to dry off.

This morning I made the half hour trip to my daughter's to pick up most of my meds  the VA sent me.Because of school winding down, none my grand kids (approximately 12, 8 and 5) were home at the time. This morning  we had a rare one on one moment to just chat.

Along the way, the conversation centered on my 8 year old grandson who of course managed to do something totally dumb to keep himself out the final days of school activities.  Since he did, my daughter followed up with an equal amount of home punishment-including maybe missing a boy scout meeting.

At that point she asked me if I had been following the LGBT drama with the scouts. Well of course I have and have made a point to sign the on line petitions for a pro open scouting organization.

Perhaps you remember the stir which was created when the young transgender girl tried to join a girl scout troop not so long ago? Well, my daughter used the example to open a discussion door with my grand daughter about the transgender community and how close it was to her- really close!  As with most kids her age she really could care less except for a little natural curiosity and the subject was pretty much closed for awhile.

When the first debates and protests began to stir within the Boy Scout organization of the course the topic of the kids transgender grandparent came around front and center-again. Mom and Dad gave grandson his choice of staying or going if the Boy Scouts continued to ban LGBT peeps. He said, he had a good time and would prefer to stay. Understandable. But now he has changed his tune.  Recently the group had a big open meeting in Dayton on the subject. Of course the usual group of unreasoning bigots were there spouting who knows what. Well it worked with my grandson. After the meeting he announced he wanted nothing to do with the Boy Scouts if they excluded people like his transgender grandparent!

I'm rarely speechless and luckily my hormone level was down because of VA screw ups so I didn't talk and cry with pride at the same time!. I could only blurt out I was so damned proud of the kid and his parents!

Now, can't we do something about cutting back on that punishment?