Tag: boy

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Disney vs the Scouts

Walt Disney has booted the Boy Scouts out of the Magic Kingdom, allegedly due to the national organization’s discriminatory policies against gay members. Although the Boy Scouts began welcoming gay scouts in January, it dispels these members after they turn 18, banning them, as well as gay parents, from leading troops and packs.images Florida-based Walt Disney World, the latest company to stop giving money to Boy Scouts in recent years, said that it cut off funding because the organization’s “views” do not align with theirs, according to a letter sent from the Central Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to the state’s scout leaders and parents.

“In losing this grant money…we may have to cut back on activities, delay replacing aging equipment, or reduce ‘high-adventure’ camping. Unless the families can make up the difference, we will have reduced experiences for the boys available,” said a Florida pack and troop leader, who wished to remain anonymous because of potential retaliation from the local scouting community. “My kids are losing money solely based on National BSA’s moral judgment against gay people. It’s not what I believe or teach my kids. Discrimination is not what we practice as a local scout unit.”

Walt Disney World did not provide financial support to the national BSA council, but it did give grants to local scouting troops through a program called, “Ears to You,” in which employees do volunteer work, and, in return, the company gives money to a charity of the employee’s choice. The Florida scout leader toldMother Jones that many members of the Florida scouting community participate in this program, and some units were receiving up to $6,000 per year.

According to the letter sent by the BSA Central Florida Council, the national leadership of BSA reached out to Walt Disney World to address the dropped funding, but the company said that their “views do not currently align with the BSA and they are choosing to discontinue this level of support.” Walt Disney World did not respond to comment as to whether those views specifically refer to the Scouts’ LGBT policy, and BSA spokesman Deron Smith declined to comment on the rationale. But Brad Hankins, a spokesman for Scouts for Equality, which advocates for equal LGBT rights, said the group believes it’s over BSA’s anti-gay policy: “Beyond the membership policies, what other views does the BSA hold that are controversial?”According to its Standards of Business Conduct, Disney World permits no discrimination based on “sex, sexual orientation [and] gender identification” among its employees. Continue reading “Disney vs the Scouts”

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The Boy Scouts’ New Year

The Boy Scouts of America will accept openly gay youths starting on New Year’s Day, a historic change that has prompted the BSA to ponder a host of potential complications — ranging from policies on tentmates and showers to whether Scouts can march in gay pride paradesimages-3

Yet despite their be-prepared approach, BSA leaders are rooting for the change to be a non-event, comparable to another New Year’s Day in 2000 when widespread fears of digital-clock chaos to start the new millennium proved unfounded, as Huffington Post reports:

“My hope is there will be the same effect this Jan. 1 as the Y2K scare,” said Brad Haddock, a BSA national executive board member who chairs the policy implementation committee. “It’s business as usual, nothing happens and we move forward.”

“Some churches are dropping their sponsorship of Scout units because of the new policy and some families are switching to a new conservative alternative called Trail Life USA. But massive defections haven’t materialized and most major sponsors, including the Roman Catholic and Mormon churches, are maintaining ties.

“There hasn’t been a whole lot of fallout,” said Haddock, a lawyer from Wichita, Kan. “If a church said they wouldn’t work with us, we’d have a church right down the street say, ‘We’ll take the troop.'” Continue reading “The Boy Scouts’ New Year”

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SheZow has arrived

Television’s latest animated superhero sports a purple skirt and cape, pink gloves and white go-go boots – and is, you might say, a transformer.images-1

She is also a he.

“Meet SheZow, the star of a cartoon debuting Saturday on the Hub, a kids’ cable channel co-owned by cable programming giant Discovery Communications and toy manufacturerHasbro Inc. The story is being reported widely. Below is coverage from the LA Times.

“In “SheZow,” a 12-year-old boy — named Guy — uses a magic ring to transform himself into a legendary crime fighter. When evil lurks, Guy says, “You go girl!” and becomes SheZow.

“When I first heard about the show, my reaction was ‘Are you out of your minds?'” said Margaret Loesch, chief executive of the Hub. “Then I looked at it and I thought, ‘This is just funny.'”

“The Hub is hoping some of SheZow’s magic powers rub off on it so it can better battle the giants of children’s television:Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network.

“Launched in October 2010, the Hub has barely registered a blip in the highly competitive kids’ TV marketplace. It has a few minor successes including “My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic” and “Transformers,” but overall its ratings are tiny. Among kids 2 to 11, the Hub’s primary target, it averages 56,000 viewers a day, according to Nielsen. Disney and Nickelodeon each average 934,000 kids in that group. Continue reading “SheZow has arrived”

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Signorile on the Scouts

images-4“The latest decision by the Boy Scouts of America, proposing to end its ban on gay scouts but not its ban on gay and lesbian scoutmasters and den mothers, is at once ridiculous and blatantly anti-gay,” writes  Michaelangelo Signorile in today’s Huffington Post, continuing as excerpted below

“Sorry, but there’s just no middle ground on bigotry. The idea that you can end discrimination against some — and actually admit that it is discrimination — but not against others is truly breathless in its illogic. The BSA actually says in its new proposal that “no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone,” but that the organization “will maintain the current membership policy for all adult leaders.”

“So a boy can come out as gay, be a great scout and be accepted by the organization but not even think about being a scoutmaster as an adult? And how can a boy who comes out as gay, or is simply known to be gay because of his other associations and friendships, feel that he is not stigmatized by the BSA when the organization is still discriminating against gay adults? Continue reading “Signorile on the Scouts”

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Madonna versus the scouts, again

imgres-1Madonna lived up to her reputation for courting controversy and fighting for gay rights when she appeared on March 16 in New York City at the 24th annual Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Awards, the first of three events to be held this year to honor the best representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the media.

Dressed in a Cub Scout uniform, the pop star told the audience, “I wanted to be a Boy Scout but they wouldn’t let me join… I can build a fire. I know how to pitch a tent… Listen, I want to do good for the community. Most importantly, I know how to scout for boys!” Continue reading “Madonna versus the scouts, again”

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Boy Scouts consider lifting ban

UnknownJust days after a Maryland-based Cub Scout pack was forced to back down on a non-discriminatory pledge because of a reference to sexual orientation, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) might be changing its national stance toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, reports todays Huffington Post “NBC cites a number of ‘scouting officials and outsiders familiar with internal discussions’ who say a revised BSA policy would not only lift the ban on gay participants from the national youth organization’s rules, but also allow local sponsoring organizations to decide for themselves whether or not to admit gay scouts.

“‘The chartered organizations that oversee and deliver scouting would accept membership and select leaders consistent with their organization’s mission, principles or religious beliefs,’ BSA Director of Public Relations Deron Smith tells the site, adding that individual sponsors and parents ‘would be able to choose a local unit which best meets the needs of their families.’ Continue reading “Boy Scouts consider lifting ban”

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The boss and his baby

“If you work for a company run by a male chief executive whose wife is about to give birth to a child—particularly his firstborn—you might want to cross your fingers they have a daughter” reports today’s Wall Street Journal.  ” And if you’re a male worker, you might get the short end of the stick no matter the gender or birth order.”

“The gender of a male CEO’s children is significantly linked to the salary of

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his employees, according to new research from Aalborg University economics professor Michael Dahl, University of Maryland Smith School of Business professor Cristian Dezso and Columbia Business School professor David Gaddis Ross. Presented Friday at the annual American Economic Association meeting here, the analysis suggests some explanations for the linkage, but doesn’t draw absolute conclusions. Continue reading “The boss and his baby”

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Boy scouts fail again

imgres-2In a disappointing conclusion to a struggle that has galvanized Americans across the country, a Boy Scout was told he would not be receiving his coveted Eagle Scout award because he is openly gay.

Ryan Andresen, 18, had fulfilled his Eagle Scout requirements back in October but was shut down by his local scoutmaster due to his sexuality. On appeal, a volunteer Eagle Scout Board of Review decided that Andresen was in fact worthy of the award and approved his application.

Eagle Scout and Scouts for Equality founder Zach Wahls told GLAAD that once an application has been OK’d by a Board of Review, the understanding is that the member has been approved. Continue reading “Boy scouts fail again”