For those of you who do not know I am an Eagle Scout with 4 palms and a Vigil Honor member. As a Boy Scout, one can not get much higher ranked than that. As a matter of fact in 1993 I was invited to the Washington state capitol to meet the then Governor Booth Gardner for being one of the top 5 highest ranking scouts in all of Washington. I still can say the Scout Oath and Law verbatim.
I am not telling all of you this to brag or to live my past glories. I am saying this because I have decided to give all my awards back to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in protest to their ban on LGBT members.
This is not something that I am taking lightly. Those awards I worked very hard on and mean A LOT TO ME. The Scouts for me growing up were truly my second family but I can no longer stand by quietly as the BSA encourages UNMORAL actions by banning LGBT peoples.
I strongly encourage all other Eagle Scouts to do the same until The Boy Scouts of America allow all LGBT people in.

Thanks for reading.
Andrew R Rose.
Troop 208. Lacey, WA.Eagle Scouts standing up against the Boy Scouts of America

As a boy I was honored to be in a troop that had amazing leaders. I was taught to treat everyone as an individual and not someone who has different skin color than me, who is of a different religion/faith system or who is gay. We were also taught to think outside of the norm (this included national BSA regulations on some things).
For me the guys in my troop were truly brothers to me. When my parents’ splits and my world turned upside down they were there for me. After high school when I did what I did and flipped out there for a while they were there for me then too. I am still friends with many many of them
I still believe that the Boy Scouts on a core/local level is a good thing for boys despite what the national leadership does.
If I have a son of my own I would love for him to be in scouts too as long as the national BSA changes their policy on allowing LGBT people.

For those of you who do not know I am an Eagle Scout with 4 palms and a Vigil Honor member. As a Boy Scout, one can not get much higher ranked than that. As a matter of fact in 1993 I was invited to the Washington state capitol to meet the then Governor Booth Gardner for being one of the top 5 highest ranking scouts in all of Washington. I still can say the Scout Oath and Law verbatim.
I am not telling all of you this to brag or to live my past glories. I am saying this because I have decided to give all my awards back to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in protest to their ban on LGBT members.
This is not something that I am taking lightly. Those awards I worked very hard on and mean A LOT TO ME. The Scouts for me growing up were truly my second family but I can no longer stand by quietly as the BSA encourages UNMORAL actions by banning LGBT peoples.
I strongly encourage all other Eagle Scouts to do the same until The Boy Scouts of America allow all LGBT people in.

Thanks for reading.
Andrew R Rose.
Troop 208. Lacey, WA.Eagle Scouts standing up against the Boy Scouts of America

As a boy I was honored to be in a troop that had amazing leaders. I was taught to treat everyone as an individual and not someone who has different skin color than me, who is of a different religion/faith system or who is gay. We were also taught to think outside of the norm (this included national BSA regulations on some things).
For me the guys in my troop were truly brothers to me. When my parents’ splits and my world turned upside down they were there for me. After high school when I did what I did and flipped out there for a while they were there for me then too. I am still friends with many many of them
I still believe that the Boy Scouts on a core/local level is a good thing for boys despite what the national leadership does.
If I have a son of my own I would love for him to be in scouts too as long as the national BSA changes their policy on allowing LGBT people.