Gay Former Eagle Scout Hired As Leader Of Boy Scout Camp
There's high drama in the world of scouting today, and not a bear in sight.
For
the first time in history, an out gay adult has been hired to supervise
young scouts. The Greater New York Councils of the Boy Scouts of
America announced today that it has hired Pascal Tessier, (he's in the
center in the photo above) a former Eagle Scout, and an advocate for
gays in scouting, to be a leader at Boy Scout Camp this summer. The hire
is in direct contempt of the 2013 national Boy Scout policy which
accepted gay scouts until they turn 18, but bans all gay adults from
becoming leaders.
"We’ve accepted him, he was put through the normal process,” Richard Mason, a spokesman for Greater New York Councils, told BuzzFeed News. "From our perspective, it’s really direct. This is a young man, who is also an Eagle Scout, very well qualified, applied for a job with one of the summer camps that the Greater New York Councils runs. On the merits, his applications clearly passes our standards … and we don’t discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. So, we’ve accepted his application on the merits."
The
New York Boy Scout Councils have led the way in promoting gay scouts,
so the announcement that they have hired a gay former Eagle Scout to
supervise boys at camp this summer did not come as a huge surprise. What
the national organization does now could be.
“I would have supported having gay Scoutmasters." Gates told the Associated Press, "but at the same time, I fully accept the decision that was democratically arrived at by 1,500 volunteers from across the entire country.”
Mr. Gates is at the tail end of his two year term as head of the Boy Scouts - his tenure ends May 22
- which would make this an ideal time for him to show the courage of
his convictions and change the discriminatory policy. But even if he
doesn't, it's not over.
If
the national organization of the Boy Scouts challenges Pascal Tessier's
hiring, he already has a lawyer. Not just any lawyer; he's represented
by David Boies, who famously argued for marriage equality with strange
bedfellow Ted Olson. Boise told reporters he hopes the hiring of Mr.
Tessier goes unchallenged, saying:
"We’re hopeful that this signals the end of the last vestige of the Scouts’ discrimination. Of the national BSA’s policy, however, he added, "That’s obviously against the law in a number of states, including New York."
I'm
optimistic former Sec. Gates won't allow a challenge to the hiring.
Less so about him ending the ban on gay adults. Then again, I think I
would enjoy hearing David Boise question him in court.
High drama in the world of scouting. No bears needed.
In an unprecedented move, the Boy Scouts of America's New York chapter has hired an openly gay Eagle Scout as a summer camp leader.
The
decision to hire Pascal Tessier, an 18-year-old Eagle Scout from
Maryland, as a counselor at the Ten Mile River Scout Camp in upstate New
York is a direct challenge to the Boy Scouts' existing ban on openly gay adult participants, the Associated Press is reporting.
Board member Richard G. Mason praised Tessier, who has been an outspoken advocate for
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues, as an "exemplary
candidate" for the counselor role, and said New York members "did not
want our policy of non-discrimination to be affected by the national
policy" in an email statement sent to The Huffington Post.
"New
York City and New York State law clearly prohibit employers from
excluding qualified men and women from employment based on sexual
orientation," he noted, and said he and other board members welcomed
Tessier and "look forward to his participation in our camp program."
Among those to applaud the move was Scouts for Equality's Executive Director Zach Wahls, who called Tessier's hiring "a watershed moment."
"As
the controversy swirling in Indiana, Arkansas, and elsewhere
demonstrates, Americans are no longer willing to tolerate discrimination
based on sexual orientation," Wahls said in a statement. "We are proud
to see such an important Boy Scout council standing up for the full
inclusion of gay members and affirming that the values and principles of
scouting are important to all people regardless of sexual orientation
or age."
Echoing those sentiments was Human Rights Campaign President
Chad Griffin, who called it "a historic day for the Boy Scouts of
America -- and for the courageous and talented young man, Pascal
Tessier, who seeks only to work for the organization that he loves."
It
isn't the first time that Tessier has made history. In 2014, he became
the first out Eagle Scout to be approved after the Boy Scouts lifted its ban on gay youthparticipants.
"Even if I had been kicked out along the way, I wouldn't have changed anything,"
he told the AP at the time. "The whole experience was something worth
having, not only for myself but also for all the other people involved
-- and for all the people it affects."
If his hiring is challenged at the national level, however, Tessier is already represented by lawyer David Boies,
BuzzFeed reported. Boies told reporter Chris Geidner that the formal
BSA policy is "obviously against the law in a number of states,
including New York."
"While
I don’t want to be overly optimistic, I think this signals at least the
end of this type of discrimination on a national level," he is quoted
as saying.
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