George Takei and Jennifer Tyrrell
protested the Boy Scouts of America's policy banning openly gay
scouts and leaders at Sunday's 43rd annual New York City
Gay Pride Parade.
Takei and Tyrrell waved at an estimated
crowd of 1.5 million revelers from the back seat of a red Ford
Mustang convertible.
Tyrrell is the 32-year-old Ohio mom who
in April was ousted as den leader of her son's Boy Scout troop
because she is a lesbian. She launched the Change.org petition to
bring awareness of the Boy Scouts' policy banning openly gay scouts
and leaders. The petition has attracted nearly 300,000 electronic
signatures.
“Some of my best memories from my
boyhood are of my scouting days,” Takei said in a statement
released by GLAAD.
“I played bass bugle in our troop's drum and bugle corps. We
marched in Fourth of July parades. We learned teamwork and
brotherhood from camping together. The Boy Scouts built my
character. As an adult, I was shocked and deeply disappointed to
learn that the Scouts discriminate against LGBT people. This is
contrary to the ideals of equality and fair play that I hold dear.
The Boy Scouts must change.”
A resolution which would allow
individual charter organizations to decide for themselves whether to
accept openly gay members and leaders was introduced last month after
Tyrrell's petition was delivered.