Scout Leaders in the opposite gender Scout organization

We've seen a number of posts over the past couple of days whose
authors
have experienced difficulties with other members of their Scouting
organization because they were of the "wrong" sex. I know of three female
Scoutmasters in our District who, to the best of my knowledge, have not
been subjected to any harassment from the other Scouters. The Scouters in
my District apparently are comfortable with women in leadership positions.
On the other hand, I'm in my 4th year as a Girl Scout troop leader,
and
one of 3 males (coincidentally all named Alan) active in our service unit.
Despite the new non-discrimination policy that was passed at the 1996
National meeting, my service unit will _not_ allow males to be the sole
leaders of any GS troop. When I asked why, the answer was ".. well you
know, the potential problem of men being around young girls..."
What is the point I'm trying to make? Even in the same community
you get
people of differing personalities, backgrounds, upbringing, and biases. If
a small-minded person is in a position of authority, their personal biases
will affect their vision. We all have to work together to educate these
people so that any qualified woman who volunteers her time in the BSA, and
any qualified man who chooses to volunteer for GSUSA is accepted for who
she/he is, and their talents may be used to further the program for the kids.
After all, we're all in this for the kids, right?

Yours in Scouting for the kids,

Alan

Alan Wolfson Boy Scout Roundtable Commissioner
wolfson@scamp.mv.com Arrowhead District, Daniel Webster
Council, NH
I used to be a bear (NE-CS-36) I used to be a Fox (NE-I-184)
Co-leader Cadette Troop 7, GSUSA

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