This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001;155:1390.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

As a volunteer who has spent a number of years in the BSA, I read with interest the letter by Girard et al in the March 2001 issue of the ARCHIVES. Their logic is derived directly from the first sentence, which states that the BSA excludes "homosexual persons from membership." That is not the case and therefore, any conclusions based on that defective premise are unlikely to be accurate.

"Excluding homosexual persons from membership" implies homophobia or an enforced policy on the part of the BSA. The BSA makes no attempt to discover the sexual orientation of members or leaders. In view of the fact that the BSA serves boys from the sixth grade up to about driving age, most of whom do not even have the ability to think abstractly, why would sexual orientation be an issue? What boy will really grasp the issue? Is that the correct forum . . . [Full Text of this Article]