The Boy Scouts have proven they're prepared to take your money -- any way they can. They've surprised absolutely no one with their decision not to let a gay dad serve as a scout leader in his son's Scout troop. But he can still fund raise for them.
Jon Langbert apparently missed the whole "Boy Scouts of America" hate the gays memo and decided to sign his son up for his local (Texas) troop anyway. And showing he's an involved dad, he threw himself into being the popcorn fundraiser guy.
That was two years ago, which also happens to be EIGHT years after the Supreme Court gave the Boy Scouts carte blanche to keep the gays away. In 2000 a landmark 5 to 4 Supreme Court decision deemed the group a private "membership organization" fully within its rights to discriminate. As recently as this summer, the Boy Scouts were out there defending their rights to keep gay men out of the ranks as the city of Philadelphia attempted to kick them out of their rent-free digs that were city-owned.
So fast forward to 2010, and suddenly they're saying Langbert can't wear a Scout leader t-shirt and can't serve in a leadership position. Which is pretty much like saying "hello, we're here, we hate the queers, but at least we're consistent."
Until you consider this: they're letting him sell all the popcorn he wants.
Yes, even after telling Langbert he is (in his words) a "second-class citizen," they're perfectly willing to take his money and that of all his "dual income, no kids" gay friends who buy the popcorn for the movie nights where they sit around sipping cosmos and watching musicals.
This "volunteer position" doesn't count as a leadership position, so the Circle 10 Council is allowing Langbert to let his freak flag fly -- outside the pack.
Color us confused, but if he's not good enough to be around the kids with his gay lifestyle, it should be an even bigger problem to have him out there representing the pack with a fundraising flier. In essence, he's a public face of the organization. He's not turning his gay off when he throws a fundraising form on the table and says, "Hey, want to buy some popcorn?"
Oh, right, he's collecting money. That makes it all better.
Sounds like the Boy Scouts aren't just there "for the kids."