Del. Minchew, Stand Up for All Scouts and Their Families

Dear Delegate Michew,

Thank you for your dedication to public service. You have served as both our Delegate from Leesburg, and our Scoutmaster, the latter for many years. I am writing you today as an Eagle Scout (Troop 9 Chester, New Jersey) for Equality. I am asking you to stand up and speak with a strong voice as a Scoutmaster against the recently re-affirmed Boy Scouts of America policy that bans gay Scouts and gay and lesbian Scout leaders.

The BSA’s policy is in direct violation of its own Oath, “to help other people at all times.” This is why thousands of Eagle Scouts like me -- those with the values of Scouting embedded in our bones by decades of service as children and teenagers -- are now standing up to insist that the BSA live up to its values and be a leader in the fight for equality in America.

You and I differ politically, Delegate Minchew, but we are both Scouts. We stand together, always seeking to daily do that good turn. It is that spirit that animates those of us in Scouting for Equality. Inspired by the moral example and leadership of fellow Eagle Scout Zach Wahls, who lived the principles of loyalty, courteousness and bravery when he stood up for the rights of his mothers, we, too, express our loyalty to our fellow Scouts who are discriminated against for who they are. We ask the BSA to live up to its call for loyalty, bravery and duty by providing an example to the nation for how organizations can embrace every American in their ideals.

Today, I ask you to do a good turn for those Scouts, including those here in your 10th District, afraid to admit who they are because of a BSA policy that denies their very nature. I ask you to exercise leadership and stand with me, my fellow Eagle Scouts, and thousands of Scouts across the country who need our support. Be a Scout for Equality, Del. Minchew. The time for leadership is now.

Sincerely,

Evan Macbeth
Leesburg, VA