cross dressing at camp

Hello fellow Scouters,
With the current thread on "strippers" making such a stir on
the list these past few days I couldn't help but bring up the
following problem we encountered at camp this summer.

We had a fairly uneventful week at camp this summer until
friday the day before we were to head home. Fridays at our camp
are family day, all afternoon is geared for "scout games and
competition".
All parents are invited up to witness the scouts in action,
showing off their newly learned skills, followed by a barbeque
dinner and the traditional campfire, etc...
Well this year the etc. turned out to be witnessing a
scoutmaster parade around camp in what my assistants and myself
regarded as totaly unacceptable behavior. The scoutmaster in
question was volunteering his time at the waterfront boating area
and was not a paid member of camp staff nor was at camp with a
troop. The scoutmasters behavior was limited to dressing as a
woman, which included: hair was worn in a obviously feminine style
(not unisex) as well as dyed a reddish purple to garner more
attention I expect, wearing long manicured and silver painted
fingernails, wearing shorts rolled up to just about the genital
area and finally sporting shaved and oiled legs w/no socks and
sandals.
Not only were we very suprised to observe this behavior but we
had to endure the questions and comments of a large number of
parents that were conserned with the type of message this behavior
we sending to our scouts. A number of our boys were highly upset
and we had to deal with all sorts of (what I considered)
unfortunate stereotypical and rude remarks by the boys themselves.

We voiced our concerns to the camp director and he held the
belief that we could do nothing about this "problem" as the
scoutmaster in question was married and has the support of his own
troop regarding this type of behavior. Furthermore, he stated that
he thought we would be unduly discriminating against this person
if we approached him and asked him to refrain from this type of
behavior.
My take on this situation was to use it as an opportunity to
instruct the boys in different levels of tolerance while also
trying to make them aware that this was NOT necessarily the best
role model of behavior to follow. I was one of the more tolerant
leaders. One of my assistants went totally ballistic and generated
a letter to our Committee that attempted to raise our concerns
with the council exec. Our committee dismissed the letter and
informed us that if we wanted to aproach the CE we would have to
do it w/o the committees endorsement. (they felt the letter left
us open to a discrimination judgement) The assistant then went on
to meet with the CE to voice his concerns and was pretty much told
that "until National takes it's case to the supreme court over the
gay/god issue" we really could do nothing about this behavior...
My main worry is that some of the parents of my scouts took a
pretty dim view of this activity and found it incredulous that the
camp staff would allow this type of "dress code" as a positive
role model for the kids we are trying to mould into "morally
straight" young men. It was a difficult situation to squirm out of
indeed.

And now the $64,000 question? How would you handle this situation?
what are your views on this type of behavior and the message it
sends to the boys we guide through the program?
Thanks.

YIS,
Paul Schnettler SM
T-164 Stoughton, WI

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