A history of the LGBTQ+ aspects of the Boy Scout movement
April 16th, Views: Copyright Ⓒ Scout Boys / All Rights Reserved. Mitchell Jackson. But once upon a time, gays understood strategy better than nearly any other special-interest group in America. Gay Boy Scouts
The scouts interpreted that oath to literally mean straight. That policy had a devastating effect on the organization, De Socio argues. It not only ruined the scouting experience for queer youth, it prevented BSA from taking action on real harms facing its kids. “Whether by design or effect, the battle over gay membership served as a forty-year distraction to solving the problem of child sex. De Socio — a resident of Troy, NY — tells a story that plays out over the course of nearly forty years, beginning in an era when gay rights were little more than a cultural sideshow; when same-sex marriage was not even on the radar; and when much of the country was recommitting to conservative social mores. In Morally Straight the name comes from the Scout Oath , we meet James Dale, the poster child of Scouting who took his fight for inclusion to the Supreme Court; Steven Cozza, the year-old scout in California who started a movement for inclusion called Scouting for All; Jennifer Tyrrell, the lesbian den mother whose expulsion from the Scouts reignited the gay membership controversy; Zach Wahls, the son of lesbian moms who led the final push for policy change; and an array of other previously unknown Scouters who played smaller roles in the fight for full inclusion. Scout Marcus in Scout Boys
The following is an excerpt from "Morally Straight: How the Fight for LGBTQ Inclusion Changed the Boy Scouts—and America" by scout and journalist Mike De Socio. Founded in , the Boy Scouts of America has expanded to include the involvement of up to 2. The Boy Scouts of America functions with the assistance of , adult volunteers. 
The Gay Scouts Handbook
By pushing the LGBT ideology on the Boy Scouts, progressives have made homosexuality part of its identity. What happened to its Christian moral code?. In , 8-year-old James Dale joined the Cub Scouts. He followed the advancement trail and eventually became a Boy Scout in
Morally Straight
Mike De Socio’s Morally Straight (Pegasus Books, ) is a deeply-reported narrative about the battle for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Boy Scouts. . 
The Complex Reality of the Boy Scouts’ Gay Ban
On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. —Scout Oath of the Boy Scouts of America A Scout is: trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. —Scout Law of the Boy. .
A sobering lesson from the ban on gay Boy Scouts
The first charter for a troop of African-American Boy Scouts was received in for Troop 55, and in the BSA started welcoming young women, allowing female leaders in . 
Don’t Clap Just Yet for the Boy Scouts
They weren’t freaks. They were just other Scouts, other Americans who wanted to camp and explore and teach kids about honor and reliability. De Socio goes into inordinate depth on the internal politics of the Boy Scouts, and it can be difficult to keep track of every proud lesbian mom and gay Scout in the book. .