New York Boy Scouts hire gay man despite U.S. rules
By Ben Kelly
The Boy Scouts’ Greater New York Councils announced this week that it has hired Pascal Tessier as a summer camp leader, in defiance of the organisation’s national rules.
The U.S. Boy Scouts changed their policy last year to allow gay youth in the organisation, but gay adults are still banned from being involved.
The scout in question, Pascal Tessier, had written an open letter to the Boy Scouts of America on his 18th birthday last year, saying he was sorry to have to leave an institution which had helped shape the man he had become. “Today is my 18th birthday, a milestone on my path to becoming an adult and the day I am no longer eligible to be a Boy Scout because I am gay,” he wrote. “Despite the Boy Scouts’ historic decision last year to open its ranks to gay youth, the Scouts still ban gay adults. And as of today, that means me.”
He later became a prominent figure in the fight to overturn the ban within the Scouts, and has gained popularity because of it.
The New York branch of the Boy Scouts say it has hired Tessier on his merits, and he is more than capable of doing the job. While the Scouts claim they do not actively seek to discover a scout’s sexual orientation, their national communications director Deron Smith said in a statement, “While we were only recently made aware of this issue, we are looking into the matter.”
For now Pascal, we salute you.