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As a boy growing up in New York City, Scouting was important to me. My parents started me in Scouting as a Cub Scout and I went through the ranks as a Boy Scout, Explorer, and Explorer Advisor. I became involved with Scouting’s National Committee on Scouting for the Handicapped when I moved to D.C. to direct the follow-up to the White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals/Implementation Unit for the Carter administration. I was never “out” during those years of my involvement with the Scouts. That was in a time when it was much harder to come out as gay or lesbian.

I went to summer camp at Ten Mile River, a Scouting camp originally endowed to the Boy Scouts by then-Gov. Franklin Roosevelt, and my first major trip out of New York was a bus ride across country to attend the 25th Boy Scout Jamboree in Colorado Springs. On the way we stopped at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. It was an amazing experience for a 13-year- old growing up on the streets of Manhattan. Those were experiences you could only get as a Scout.

Today much has changed and adults and even boys and girls are much more comfortable being out about who they are. For the Girl Scouts it has never been a big issue, but until Jan. 1, 2014 you couldn’t become a Boy Scout if you were gay. Now we all know during those years of prohibiting membership in the Scouts to gay boys and men, thousands of Scouts and their leaders were gay. But until 2014 young men had to hide that fact and the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) chose to keep their heads buried in the sand and pretend these Scouts didn’t exist.

Then along came a group called Scouts for Equality. They are a 501(c) (3) organization founded in 2012 composed largely of Boy Scouts of America alumni dedicated to ending the BSA’s ban on gay members and leaders. They believe since Scouting provides youth with an opportunity to try new things, provide service to others, build self-confidence, and reinforce ethical standards it should be open to all young men. Scouts for Equality believes these opportunities reward Scouts throughout their lives by improving their relationships, their work lives, their family lives, and the values by which they live. The core leadership of Scouts for Equality all earned Scouting’s highest award — Eagle Scout.

The first goal of Scouts for Equality was met when in May of 2013 it won a vote that changed the policy and admitted gay Scouts. But that vote only went half-way and there is still blatant discrimination by the Boy Scouts, which will kick out a gay Scout at age 18 and not allow them to become a leader in the organization. Changing this incoherent policy is now the mission of Scouts for Equality and everyone who believes in fairness and equality should support them in this mission.

I had the good fortune to sit down and talk with Zach Wahls, executive director of Scouts for Equality. He has moved its offices to D.C. Many know Zach from his incredible speech as a 19-year-old University of Iowa student when he spoke about the strength of his family during a public forum on House Joint Resolution 6 in the Iowa House of Representatives. Wahls, who has two moms, spoke out to oppose House Joint Resolution 6, which would have ended marriage equality in Iowa.

Zach shared the work he is now doing with Scouts for Equality and the need the organization has to raise money to continue their efforts. Like all small non-profits getting the message out is a huge step toward success and that costs money. There is no question about the commitment and value of the organization. What Zach explained to me, and I admit surprised me, is the relationship between the Mormon Church and Scouting. Fully 38,000 Scout units in the United States are sponsored (or ‘chartered’ in BSA parlance) by the Mormon Church. While Equality Utah negotiated with the legislature in Utah to move forward on legislation to ban discrimination against the LGBT community one of the biggest exemptions in the bill is that it doesn’t apply to the BSA. The larger LGBT community and our allies can’t accept the ban on gay leaders in the Boy Scouts and we have to aggressively speak out on this and fight it.

One way we can help is to join Zach and Scouts for Equality at their fundraiser on Tuesday, April 14 at the Longview Gallery, 1234 9th St., N.W., from 6–8 p.m. Tickets are available starting from $50 at the door or online at scoutsforequality.org/events. I hope you will join me and others that evening as we stand up for full civil and human rights for the LGBT community.

Peter Rosenstein is a longtime LGBT rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.