By Michael F. Haverluck
Just as details emerged of growing financial and political pressure on the Boy Scouts to reverse a century-old and Supreme Court-approved policy barring homosexuals, the president of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays issued a plea to the Scouts to seriously consider the dangers of giving in.
"Please do without some corporate funding if you must, cut your budget and protect the children in your care," urged Greg Quinlan, a former "gay."
"One case of child sexual molestation is one case too many. Money with dangerous conditions attached is not a donation – it's a bribe," he warned.
The Boy Scouts this week said it was discussing removing the national membership restriction regarding "sexual orientation."
"This would mean," the organization said in a statement, "there would no longer be any national policy regarding sexual orientation, but that the chartered organizations that oversee and deliver Scouting would accept membership and select leaders consistent with their organization's mission, principles or religious beliefs."
Quinlan said he knows firsthand how destructive promoting the homosexual lifestyle can be.
"As a former homosexual who was sexually molested as a child, I urge the Boy Scouts of America to reinforce their policy prohibiting homosexuals as Scout leaders entrusted with the care of impressionable young boys and teens," he pleaded.
He said he understands the extreme vulnerability of young boys to the influences of homosexuals.
"Boy Scout leaders are exactly that – leaders," Quinlan explains.
He is urging Americans to press BSA to protect children by petitioning the organization through the Family Research Council Action Alert online
"Boys watch [leaders] very closely. Boys also look up to older Boy Scout members and want to imitate them and follow their examples. Boys at that stage of maturity emulate male role models," he said.
Quinlan warned that a homosexual "who gently eases boys and young men into exposure of homosexuality by his own personal example promotes homosexual behavior as normal, natural and healthy."
"This paves the way for youth to question their own sexuality and be affirmed into homosexuality," the PFOX president said. "Promoting homosexuality to youth is also a political ploy to further homosexual approval."
Having formerly practiced homosexual behavior, Quinlan sees the hypocrisy of homosexual advocates who are pushing for the inclusion of their lifestyle in the Boy Scouts.
"To insist that homosexuals be allowed to participate in the Boy Scouts while demanding that heterosexual counseling for molested children be outlawed is a gross miscarriage of justice," he said. "What do the Boy Scouts have to say about this injustice?"
Conservative syndicated columnist and national radio host Michael L. Brown also sees the inconsistency with the homosexual lobby.
"I find it ironic that gay activists have led the way in raising awareness about bullying but have no problem bullying the Boy Scouts of America," Brown told WND.
Asked whether he believes the Boy Scouts will give in to the latest pressure, he said, "I certainly hope they will not, and my assumption is that on this issue, public opinion is strongly against them caving in."
On the other hand, he said, "We need to ask why they have even proposed making these changes at all.
"Is something going on? Is it becoming too costly for them to do what is right? So I do have some concerns."
He said a change "would send another message to America that biblical values and moral sanity are no longer welcome."
"It is terribly unwise," Brown said. "Hardly a week goes by where we don't hear a new report about a female school teacher having a sexual relationship with one of her teenage students. Would it be wise to appoint women to be Boy Scout leaders? Obviously not. In the same way, it is not wise to appoint gay men to be Scout leaders. It opens the door to potential abuse and is terribly unfair to the kids. In this context, it is not just right-wing rhetoric to remind ourselves of the Jerry Sanduskys of this world."
Quinlan suggested Americans have forgotten other man-boy sex scandals.
"Like the Catholic Church hierarchy, the Boy Scouts have a history of hushing up and settling sexual molestation cases brought by boys under their care," Quinlan said. "The book, 'Scout's Honor' by investigative reporter Patrick Boyle, revealed 1,800 cases in which Scout leaders had been dismissed for abusing boys. And two years ago, a jury awarded $18.5 million to a man abused by a Scoutmaster."
He said he wants others to avoid his pain.
"My own sexual molestation as a youth was a contributing factor to my homosexual behavior as I got older," Quinlan shared. "I left homosexuality only when I saw over 100 of my friends die of AIDS. I regret all those years of living [in] homosexually – time wasted when I could have been dating and experiencing a relationship with a woman, gotten married, and raised children together. But sexual molestation and homosexuality raped me of those precious years, which should have been the best years of my life."
He said the costs of his behavior have been great.
"Today, I should be able to look at my children's faces and see reflections of my wife," Quinlan insists. "Instead, I am fighting heterophobic legislation initiated by the gay lobby, which would prevent children molested by homosexuals from seeking heterosexual counseling. Gay activists like the Human Rights Campaign and the Southern Poverty Law Center demand equality while denying equality to the ex-gay community, but denying children access to full mental health care is outrageous and perverted."
He also warned if the Scouts fall, there will be no turning back.
"No matter what precautions the Boy Scouts put in place so that open homosexuals can participate, such safeguards will never be enough," Quinlan maintains. "It's like installing smoke alarms, fire ladders, and extinguishers in your home. Yes, if there's a fire, a family may survive and get out of a burning house. But the best thing would be to not light the match in the first place."
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