Actor George Takei has called hogwash
on the Boy Scouts of America's decision to keep in place its policy
excluding openly gay scouts and leaders.
On Tuesday, the organization said it
was upholding the policy after conducting a confidential two-year
review.
The announcement came a day before
Jennifer Tyrrell was set to deliver more than 30,000 petition
signatures calling on the Boy Scouts to end its ban.
Tyrrell launched a Change.org petition
in April to bring awareness of the policy after she was ousted as den
leader of her son's Boy Scout troop because she is a lesbian.
She delivered the petition to the Boy
Scouts' national headquarters in Dallas.
“Am I angry? Yes. I'm angry,”
Takei, a former Boy Scout who had previously spoken out against the
policy, wrote
at this blog.
“Earlier this week, ousted scout
leader Jennifer Tyrrell announced she would be delivering over 30,000
signatures today to the Boy Scouts of America headquarters in Dallas.
In a cynical move to preempt that story, the Scouts released a
statement yesterday reaffirming its ban on gay scouts and LGBT
leaders. The statement indicated that their committee met in secret
and unanimously voted to uphold the ban. Hogwash.”
Takei pledged to keep working to end
the ban.