SCOUT’S HONOR

A Boy Scout is honest, trustworthy, loyal, faithful, and true. So why can't a Boy Scout – or a Scoutmaster – be gay? That's the question that seventh-grader Steve Cozza of Petaluma, California, a Boy Scout in every best sense of the term, asked himself. As an answer he founded Scouting for All, a push to end gender preference discrimination in the Boy Scouts of America, a form of sanctioned bigotry that has regrettably earned that long-honored youth institution a Merit Badge in the history of homophobia-based bigotry and exclusion. Opponents (here, the usual suspects: Pat Buchanan, conservative preachers, scared-stiff parents) argue that admitting homosexuals amounts to indoctrinating youngsters in the gay lifestyle. “My dad went to Catholic School and he was taught by nuns,” says Cozz. “And he didn't become a nun.” Nonetheless, despite his plainspoken common sense (maybe because of it), Cozza is targeted with death threats and Scout leaders associated with him are drummed out of the ranks, as a new lawsuit against the Boy Scouts approaches its decision in the Supreme Court. Winner of an Audience Award and Freedom of Expression Award at Sundance, SCOUT'S HONOR pays tribute to those trying to pitch a bigger tent and make places for everyone around the campfire.