Defending Scouts’ Freedom to Choose

To the Editor:

I am sorry, but I just do not get it. So much controversy has arisen over the standards one organization sets for itself. I am referring, of course, to the Boy Scouts of America and the national policy not to include homosexuals among its leadership and members (“Divided in Support of Scouts,” April 19). So what? Isn’t this America, where we all have freedom of association as well as free speech? I guess not, though, if the issue is homosexuality and the imposition of the acceptance of that lifestyle on others. What a shame.

But lest anyone jump on me for the ideas expressed here, let it be said that freedom of association goes both ways, in that individual United Ways have every right to make decisions on what is best for their communities. If exclusion is the result of those decisions, so be it. My only hope is that the thousands of young men in these communities who need the involvement of scouting are not forgotten in this rancorous debate and then ultimately become the big losers in this struggle.

Lawrence E. Gill
Grants Administrator
Dodge Jones Foundation
Abilene, Tex.