A 19-year-old Eagle Scout has lost a
summer job with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) after he was
accidentally outed as gay in a Facebook post.
Garrett Bryant, a freshman at Northern
Arizona University, told the New York Daily News that he lost
a summer job with the organization after he posted on Facebook that
he was in a relationship. Friends cheered the news, and at least one
asked, “What's his name?”
The BSA ended its policy banning openly
gay scouts in January, but gays over 18 are not allowed to
participate in the program.
“I did the best I could to follow
BSA's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy for gay members,” Bryant
told the paper. “But I couldn't control other people outing
me, even by accident. Following the rules as being an Eagle Scout
apparently weren't enough for me to stay on camp staff.”
Bryant said he was told “homosexuality”
was the reason he was turned down.
“I felt just extreme sadness,” he
said. “I am not one to cry easily. It was pretty intense.”
Bryant also appeared on MSNBC's The
Last Word, where he said he was “shocked” by the move.