By Bryan Fischer 

Follow me on Twitter: @BryanJFischer, on Facebook at “Focal Point” 

Jennifer Tyrell is an out, loud and proud lesbian who was rightfully removed by the Boy Scouts from a leadership position with their organization, which exists to build character into the lives of impressionable young boys. 

By her own admission last night on the Dr. Drew show, her sexual preference was not an issue for an entire year, during which her son had an “awesome” experience in Scouting. The Boy Scouts were blissfully unconcerned about her sexual proclivities. 

But when she accepted a position as treasurer of a local troop, the Scouts asked her to resign. They have not only the right but the responsibility to ensure that all adults who serve in leadership roles in Scouting are appropriate role models. 

As the Scouts said, “Our mission does not include teaching young people about sex or sexual orientation, and we do not believe it is Scouting’s role to introduce this topic in our youth development program.” 

Now Ms. Tyrell is accusing the Scouts of inserting sexual preference into the discussion, but they didn’t - she did. She’s the one who pursued a leadership position knowing full well that, as the Supreme Court said in 2000 in upholding Scout policy, “homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the values embodied in the Scout Oath and Law.”  

A more responsible and mature adult would have politely declined the invitation to leadership for the sake of the work that the Scouts are doing in the lives of young boys, including her own. 

But no, as a narcissistic and self-absorbed adult, she insisted on pressing her demands regardless of its larger effect on the mission of the organization to whom she had entrusted her own boys. 

The Supreme Court ruled over a decade ago that the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right of association gives ultimate constitutional protection to the Scouts to select leaders who are “morally straight.” It’s unfortunate that Ms. Tyrell is showing so little respect and regard for the Constitution of the United States and for the 104-year history of the Scouts and their enduring leadership standards. 

She likely would be one of the first to complain about people who try to force their values down other people’s throats, painfully oblivious to the reality that that’s exactly what she is trying to do to the Boy Scouts. A more thoughtful and self-aware adult would have seen this. 

For the Scouts, being “morally straight” has implications for sexual behavior, and they naturally want leaders who reflect their values and model sexually normative behavior for young boys as they grow into adolescence and toward adulthood. 

Now Ms. Tyrell may have a different definition of what it means to be “morally straight.” Fine. She’s entitled to her own views on the subject. But so are the Boy Scouts of America. Anyone with the slightest inclination toward tolerance would understand and appreciate that. Ms. Tyrell apparently does not.  

And Ms. Tyrell can always do what concerned moms did when the Girl Scouts embraced lesbianism. They started their own organization, American Heritage Girls. There is no reason for Ms. Tyrell not to do the same thing: start an organization of her own that offers American families the opportunity to have lesbians teach their young boys to build campfires and tie knots. 

I will flat out guarantee you that the Boy Scouts would be perfectly happy to acknowledge her First Amendment rights to freedom of association in such a case. They simply ask that Ms. Tyrell recognize their right to the same thing in return.  

It’s worth noting that Ms. Tyrell, the mother of two boys, gives the lie to the myth that sexual orientation is genetically pre-determined, since she, according to my information, is the biological mother of two boys. Sexual preference is obviously a fluid thing in her own experience. No gay gene has ever been found - homosexuals aren’t even looking for it anymore - and there is no reason to think that sexual preference and behavior are not ultimately matters of choice.  

Lesbians aren’t “born that way,” and Jennifer Tyrell may be living proof. 

(Unless otherwise noted, the opinions expressed are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.)