George Takei has criticized the Boy
Scouts of America for “firing” den mother Jennifer Tyrrell
because she's a lesbian.
(Related: Boy
Scouts “fire” den leader Jennifer Tyrrell for being gay.)
Takei, who married his husband Brad
Altman in 2008, wrote about the controversy on his blog That
Blog Is So Takei.
“I was a Boy Scout,” the Star
Trek icon wrote. “Yes, I was a proud member of Troop 379, and
to increase the geek factor, also a member of the troop drum and
bugle corp, in which I played the bass bugle.”
“There are many wonderful qualities
about being a scout, but there remains a long and ugly shadow across
the organization, for the Boy Scouts of America – the largest youth
organization in the country – continues to discriminate openly
against LGBT people, both as members and as scout leaders.”
“Ms. Tyrrell had taken the troop to
soup kitchens and on conservation projects at a local state park.
She imbued in the scouts the core values of citizenship, compassion,
respect, and responsibility,” he added. “But no matter: She was
hounded out, merely because of who she is and who she loves. As a
former scout, it is particularly distressing to see this rigid
homophobia of the scout leadership exercised so callously in this day
and age. While I respect the right of organizations to their
beliefs, when the organization is as influential as the Boy Scouts, I
am compelled to speak out – and I have just as much right to voice
my opposition to bigotry and call for its end.”