LGBTQ+ scouters in the news

A couple of recent articles highlight progress for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the BSA.

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash

The Boy Scouts of America has not been getting a lot of great press lately.

Between the pandemic and the bankruptcy, most headlines about Scouting offer depressing updates about the organization’s troubles.

But in April, two news stories in particular caught my eye, because they focused on something else entirely: The progress that LGBTQ+ scouters and allies are making in the BSA.

The first was an article in LGBTQ Nation titled: “The new LGBTQ+ leaders of the Boy Scouts bring hope for a brighter future.”

It profiles a “new generation of leaders [that] is encouraging youth members to take ownership of their futures.” You’ll see some familiar names in the story, like Gary Carroll and Davis Kellogg, but also one that I haven’t yet had the pleasure of writing about: Tess English.

English is the chief operating officer for the BSA’s Gulf Stream Council, and worked previously as a district executive in Tucson. She was, until recently, in the “corporate closet,” afraid to reveal her queer identity even after the ban on gay adults fell. It took Carroll becoming the nation’s first openly gay scout executive, the article explains, to inspire English to be more open at work.

The second story that caught my eye was one in the Washington City Paper, titled: “The Ethical Dilemma of Scouting.”

You might not guess from the headline, but the article goes on to talk about a Scouts BSA troop that “is challenging Scouting’s rigid gender rules.”

Troop 1123 is located in Washington, D.C. and is fiercely dedicated to inclusion for trans and nonbinary scouts, even if it doesn’t always perfectly align with BSA policy. It’s become a safe haven for the types of teens that are often marginalized.

“There’s a lot of queer people and a lot of neurodiversity in Scouting,” troop member Robin Pfeifer told the City Paper. “These people need the outdoor activity, and they’re able to find it in Scouts BSA. It’s one of the few nonacademic places where you can find success through rank advancement, working as a leader, and excelling, without being in school.”

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