Know your News: Ffriday Link Round-Up!

The Friendfactor blog may have been quiet this week, but the world of gay news certainly was not! (We promise, the radio silence will be worth it… keep an ear out in early October… ) Here’s your weekly cheat-sheet to catch you up for the weekend. In this edition:  mostly stuff about TV. But lots of different kinds of TV!

Sports fans with gay friends can do a mighty big wave for this story: The NFL has added language to their anti-discrimination policy to protect folks from harassment based on sexual orientation! The league has made the move quietly, slipping the new protection in with the slew of other changes that came at the end of a collective bargaining marathon in the past few weeks.  Homophobia in sports is, unfortunately, a pretty widespread problem. So we’re glad to see such an influential group taking steps to say it won’t be tolerated. Did you know there are currently no out, gay professional athletes in football, basketball, hockey or baseball in the US? Maybe this move will change things.

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Mom can’t lead her son’s Boy Scout troop anymore because she’s gay.

After six years as a respected leader for the Cub Scouts, Denise Steele has been booted from heading up her son Jackson’s Boy Scout troop simply because she’s raising her children with another woman:

The Boy Scouts of America organization says it believes that “open homosexuality is inconsistent with the values.” It also recommends that scout parents and sponsors share this belief.

But, Steele still drove forward and as [her son] Jackson joined the troop, she completed her training to become an assistant scout leader. The training process to become a scout leader usually takes about a year. Steele completed it in three weeks…

“I think it’s disappointing – it’s a sad day for Boy Scouting. I think the actions are really out of sync of what scouting stands for,” Eric Ianson, a friend of Steele’s and an Eagle Scout said.

The scout law says a scout should be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind and obedient, thrifty, clean and reverent, Ianson said.

(Loudon Times: Potomac Falls woman removed from son’s Boy Scout troop)

This is a sad story not only for 12-year-old scout Jackson Steele and his family, but for the rest of the community who have lost a trusted leader for their children to a vindictive act made possible by the organization’s outdated policy. Because so many states still don’t have laws protecting folks from employment discrimination based on sexuality, there’s little to no recourse for the family. The Boy Scouts keep conducting “business as usual” indefinitely.

I for one hope my (hypothetical) kids find the best mentors out there, gay or straight.

Take Action: Share this story of the Boy Scouts gay mom getting the boot — enough public outcry might finally change the rules and allow gay kids and parents to participate fully in their communities without fear.