Tue. July 17, 2012
St. Joseph, MO -
A Missouri Eagle Scout was stripped of his Boy Scout honor and fired from his job at a summer camp after coming out gay.
Eric Jones of Kearney, Missouri was serving as a counselor at Camp Geiger just north of St. Joseph, Missouri. On Sunday his 10 years as an Eagle Scout came to an abrupt end when he told the camp director that he is gay.
"I was asked to leave," Jones told WDAF-TV. "I was told to leave. Pack your things and go."
Jones described the camp director as compassionate and said he told him he deserved to remain with the organization, but because of the Boy Scouts of America's rules, he had to tell him to go.
Jones, who joined the Boy Scouts in second grade, said he was aware of the Boy Scouts long-standing policy that bars openly gay males from joining the organization.
"In my mind I thought that I had proven myself as a scout and as an employee. I almost thought that maybe that won't affect it, that that wouldn't matter that I had proven myself," said Jones.
The Boy Scouts of America reaffirmed its policy against gays on Tuesday, saying it had concluded a confidential two-year review by an 11-member special committee.
The Pony Express Council, who is in charge of troops in the St. Joseph area, offered no comment on Jones.
Jones' coming out will be featured in a upcoming documentary, "Second Class Citizens," by Ryan James Yezak.
Related: AT&T exec, Boy Scout board member opposes gay scouting ban
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