The Gays, the Camps, and the Scouts
In the recent years of the Boy Scouts of America, the number have membership has dropped dramatically in America. The main reason of this is within the Scouting program itself, one issue has been on camping. Many camps are starting to become vacant and unwanted. Due to budget cuts and lack of scouts wanting to go to camp they have been losing funds for their programs and events. Another issue in losing scouts has been lifting the ban on homosexual adult leaders. For years there has been arguments that gay and boy scouts don’t mix, and after the ban was lifted things only got worse. Lastly, one of the biggest contributors of the decline in scouting is the belief that scouting is pointless and does not lead…show more content… Attending a boy or cub scout camp in the summer is an event designed to bring youth and their adult leaders into the wilderness where they can learn the basics of survival, how to be a leader, and many skills in the arts and sciences. Unfortunately, many of these camps are beginning to be closed down. In the start of 2015, many councils running around the great lakes area has been voting to temporarily close and even shut down camps. The Three Harbors Boy Scout Council in Wisconsin, for example, voted that at the end of 2015 there were to close four of its Boy Scout camp. However, before the vote was made of closing some of the local camps, three camps had already closed down. Later in the year, another great lakes area council called the Michigan Crossroads Council declared they too will be closing not four but five of its local boy scout camps including the famous Traverse city camp, Greilick. Both councils believe that they can no longer justify the expense of maintaining the camps anymore. In December of 2015, an editor of Summer Camp Culture named Matt Ralph received a letter from the MCC stating “Density of population served; lack of summer camp operation; utilization that is significantly below the average, proximity to other camp properties; and is not now or is forecast to be financially sustainable in the future.” (Ralph). The stated given by MCC in 2015 haunted many other local camps in the area
