First, you have stated that no one who is a Scout leader could be unaware of all this controversy. This is simply not true. In my own council, for example, every leader is given the option of whether or not to receive Scouting newsletters from district or council. I am a cubmaster. I have adult den leaders under me. New leaders come to me for such information. As I feel that such information is only derogatory towards the program and can serve no positive purpose, I would never mention it to them myself. In the past few years I have only received ONE piece of information from Scouting vaguely regarding this issue, and that was that only people from the professional organization are to make comments to the press regarding Scouting’s policies on any issue. Unless I read about it on my own, yes it is entirely possible to miss this issue as a Scout leader. I can also say that in the years that I have been a leader, not once have I heard any discussion of the issue among Scout leaders at any meeting or event.

Now I will say that personally I have no problem with how others live their lives, unless they decide to tell me what to believe or to teach my children to believe. My problem with homosexual persons in Scouting is this:

I am a parent. I believe that no one besides myself and my wife have the right to expose my child to even a hint that sex or sexuality even exists. Not the act or the concept. Until my child is 18 We are the only ones who have the right to mention this topic to our children. (School and sex ed notwithstanding, but that’s years down the line) I have no right to introduce the concept to the children of other parents. The concept of sex should never ever be allowed to enter the realm of early childhood. Now relate that to the problem at hand. If I have a leader or Scout who comes into the pack who is homosexual and mentions it for any reason where the kids can hear it, then the kids are exposed to the concept. The person who causes my son to ask me what does gay mean? Has done harm to my family. I now have to try to make my kid forget what he heard. He is simply too young for any of this. I believe that ALL Scouts are.

I have asked people this. How can homosexuals join the scouts yet still completely protect every scout from any hint that sex exists? This is not, to me discrimination. If I were a leader of an older Scout Troop and I heard any Scout talking about boy-girl situations, I would quash it. It has no place in Scouting. Why would I not do the same about boy-boy conversations? It’s not don’t ask don’t tell. It’s don’t even think about the concept because it’s inappropriate for young children of any persuasion, at least while they are in Scouting and around other Scouts. Morally straight is a Scout Law. It is not morally straight for young children to know about sex. It is definitely not morally straight to expose young children to the concept without their parent’s express consent. Can YOU tell me how to accomplish this feat?
I know that every parent may not agree with me about the age of exposure, but that’s their choice

There is also this…IF Scouting does agree to allow homosexuals into the organization under the plan that says each unit can proscribe their own policies, it will likely mean the end of Scouts. Camporees and Jamborees, long a way for Scouts from all over to meet, will likely vanish. Units that do not want their children exposed to units that do allow homosexuals will never allow their children to participate in District, council, regional or national events. The Overall organization will very likely lose all cohesion.
Add to all this the idea of adding atheists. One parent of an atheist child let him join scouts without reading about the policy. Then he accused Scouting of discrimination when his son’s Pack continued to say the pledge of Allegiance at every meeting. He said that they had no right to make his son uncomfortable by talking about God. To meet his demands, Scouting would have to reorganize their basic belief system, and then deny the right of faith to other Scouts, lest they offend any atheist Scouts. How far do we go to make Scouting for everybody? In the end, these changes will simply destroy the organization that homosexuals say they want to join. I haven’t even pursued the mass exodus of charter sponsors that will simply drop their troops and packs . The leaders who will quit.

this is not a simple matter, and Scouting will suffer if this happens. I personally feel that if they do this, it will mean the end of Scouting. Who will that help? Will the same people who want to be in proudly proclaim that they helped bring about the downfall of a discriminatory organization?
Do they win by destroying what they say they want? What they get will not be the Scouting that they say they want to be a part of. It will be like forcing a company out of business, and putting up their shingle on the empty building just to say that your part of ‘scouts’.