The New York Times Magazine, Sunday, August 22, 1999
The New York Times Magazine, Sunday, August 22, 1999
The New York Times Magazine, Sunday, August 22, 1999
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Camping Lessons<br />
<strong>The</strong>re's always been this weird dichotomy between us. I came out when I was 19; he came out<br />
when he was 28. And I think my coming out so publicly and suing the Boy Scouts didn't<br />
necessarily help him. He was kind of mocking when he was in the closet -- I don't understand<br />
why you're doing this." But now, after all this time, he's more intolerant than I am -- I can't<br />
believe people won't come out of the closet." I think that in time he'll probably be a little more<br />
tempered and maybe more empathetic.<br />
If you have a son of your own, will you encourage him to go into the Scouts?<br />
Assuming that the discriminatory policy's not there, I would definitely like the kid to be in the<br />
Scouts. But I would want to know who the people were that were influencing him -- his<br />
Scoutmaster, the other Scouts. A kid can be highly impressionable, and I wouldn't want some<br />
narrow-minded person leading my son's troop. For all the hysteria around gays in the Boy<br />
Scouts, I think any parent who trusts just anybody with their child is crazy. You have to know<br />
who they are and what it's about. It's not like dropping the kid off with Grandma.<br />
Table of Contents<br />
<strong>August</strong> <strong>22</strong>, <strong>1999</strong><br />
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