To the Editor:

I think it is OK that the Boy Scouts of America is allowed to “specifically forbid membership to homosexuals.” These were their words when James Dale asked why he was expelled from scouting. He was an assistant scoutmaster at the time. He had been a Scout since the age of eight, and was one of the small percentage of scouts who receive the Eagle Scout Badge. While a student at Rutgers, he attended a seminar on the needs of lesbian and gay youth. Once the Boy Scouts learned of this he was expelled.

Let me say again ... I think it is OK that the Scouts do this. They are a private organization and I think the First Amendment protects them.

However ... I think this is a horrible, horrible belief system. I think there is nothing wrong or immoral with homosexuality. I think the Scouts negatively impact our society by holding tight to this idea. So do a lot of other people. After the Boy Scouts won the right to exclude gays, Chicago, San Francisco, and San Jose told them they were no longer allowed to use public parks and schools. And major corporations, like Chase Manhattan Bank, have withdrawn millions in donations. This was a fairly well publicized case and while I am glad that the Scouts have the right to exclude gays, I am even gladder that the case made public the Scouts’ ignorant stance and turned some measure of public opinion against them.

Last week, The Poly ran an article about how RPI’s branch of the APO, an national co-ed service fraternity, held an outreach program for local Boy Scouts, and helped them acquire their engineering merit badges.

I know that not every member of the Scouts is evil. I know that not every Boy Scout will grow up to hate “fags” and “dykes.” I know that not every Boy Scout will go out and beat up “queers” and “lesbos.” I know that many of these kids may have little idea about the controversy swirling around their group and just want to go camping.

But I hope we are not so naive as to think that the organization’s acceptance of homophobia will not give weight to these ideas in many scouts’ minds. Every time we as a society interact with the Boy Scouts of America, we are giving tacit approval to the anti-gay sentiment they hold and we are telling the young scouts that these sentiments are socially acceptable. Yes, I know that the Boy Scouts provides many fun recreational activities, but so do many other groups. I think if parents want some extra-curricular activities for their kids, there are far less hateful ones out there.

I went to RPI as an undergrad. I am well aware of APO’s many beneficial activities, both for the RPI and the Troy communities. I respect their right to associate with groups who think that men cannot have sex with other men and that Jane can’t have two mommies.

But if they do so, then the APO has to accept that some of us will call them on it and say, “Ya’ know ... that was a terrible thing you did and you’ve offended me and many others by associating yourselves and RPI with this hateful, homophobic national organization. And I hope in the future, you give more thought to whether or not a group is worthy of your attentions.” ‘Cause I, for one, am incredibly disappointed in all the members of APO.

Matt Bellis

PHYS GRAD