I just refuse to support them, or work to change from the inside.
I was a Boy Scout. It was a good experience. It was only AFTER I left the Scouts that I found out about the anti-gay policy. (I may not be gay, but since leaving scouts, I have met someone who was kicked out for being gay.)
And the anti-atheist policy didn't seem to affect me, even though I was an atheist. There is nothing in the international Scouting charter that says that the Boy Scouts of America have to do any of this. The Canadian Boy Scouts, for example, don't care a lick about these two topics.
But, the Boy Scouts seem to have only really become strict about it since I left. So it has only been since I left that I have chosen to disagree with their policies. I am trying to help change the system, but from the inside. My son is just starting in Cub Scouts (which deals with kids young enough that this policy doesn't affect them yet.) So I am joining the leadership, and go to every council leadership meeting, and whenever it comes up, I strongly voice my opposition. (Of course, I live in a fairly liberal city, so there is lots of opposition to this national ruling. And in lots of areas around town, I know these rules are ignored.)
As for men-only clubs? Again, it's their prerogative. If I had any vested interest in them, I'd try to change them from the inside. Since I don't, I just won't support them. There are women-only organizations, too. I don't have any desire to join them. (A good friend of mine is actually 'discriminated' against because of his sex. His mother, and his entire maternal line, are "Daughters of the Revolution", but because it only goes up his maternal side, he is not a "Son of the Revolution." If it had instead been his paternal side that had the direct link, he would be, but his sister couldn't have been a Daughter! It's a silly rule, but it's their right to make it.) |
