The Boy Scouts of America has fired an openly gay scoutmaster, a 49-year-old Eagle Scout named Geoff McGrath who had been asked by his Methodist reverend in Seattle to start a new troop.
BSA spokesman Deron Smith said the organization didn’t have Mr. McGrath in its crosshairs until reporters contacted the headquarters and inquired about his homosexuality. That’s when officials took action and revoked his leadership position, The Daily Mail reported.
“Our policy is that we do not ask people about their sexual orientation and it’s not an issue until they deliberately inject it into Scouting in an inappropriate fashion,” Mr. Smith said, to NBC.
The BSA presently allows gay youths to join, but still bars gay men from leadership positions.
Mr. McGrath said that before his firing, he thought he was the only openly gay Scout leader serving in the BSA in the nation.
“It’s extremely disappointing to not be fully supported and defended in my membership,” he said, The Daily Mail reported. “They are complaining that the [gay] problem is a distraction to Scouting and they don’t seem to understand that the distraction is self-inflicted.”
Mr. McGrath had led Troop 98 since the fall, when he was contacted by Reverend Monica Corsaro of Rainier Beach United Methodist Church, The Daily Mail said.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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