SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Pride Festival featured a parade Sunday, and a group of people in Boy Scouts of America uniforms served as a color guard in the parade.
Dave McGrath organized the group and is a former scout leader. He said the BSA sent out an email warning members against wearing a uniform in this year’s parade, and he said he saw fewer folks in uniform this year than in years past. McGrath marched in last year's Utah Pride Festival Parade in uniform, despite instruction from scouting officials not to do so.
He said he had a message for the BSA: “If you're going to do things which are anti-American, and those things which violate the Constitution, which under Amendment 14 is equal standing under the law, then you must actually remove America from Boy Scouts of America. At that point you're no longer the BSA, you are the BS.”
The Boy Scouts of America began allowing openly gay scouts into their ranks beginning January 1, but they still maintain a ban on openly gay leaders. Scouts of any sexual orientation are expected to follow the Scout Oath and Scout Law.
