Eagle Scouts
Second Annual Youth Pride March, Boston
May 18, 1996

Gay membership in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) became controversial in 1989, after James Dale of New Jersey, a freshman at Rutgers University, acknowledged to himself and others that he was gay. A Boy Scout since 1981, Dale became an Eagle Scout in 1988 and an adult member and assistant scoutmaster in 1989. In a newspaper interview, Dale commented that homosexual teenagers needed gay role models. The BSA subsequently revoked his adult membership in 1990. Dale sued the BSA in New Jersey; the case subsequently went to the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court handed down its decision in the matter of Boy Scouts of America v. James Dale on June 28, 2000, ruling in favor of the BSA's right to exclude gay males.

"These two Eagle Scouts came up to me and said, 'Here's a photo opportunity for you,' as they pulled out their Eagle Scout cards.'"