Mick Rabin Speaks to the San Diego City Council
--February 2, 2004

Adolescents and teens have lots of baggage to carry these days. Now factor in the social hurdles, the marginalization, the wisecracks, the hallway intimidation, the religious condemnation that our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer youth face every day of their lives, and it should come as no small surprise that I'm describing a population three times more likely to commit suicide than their straight peers.

Somewhere along the way, good and decent people need to look at that statistic and be the leaders to draw a line in the sand. Two years ago, Golden Hall was chock full of such leaders wearing uniforms similar to the one I wear today. I'm ashamed to say that most wanted the city to extend a preferential lease to a self-proclaimed religious organization that defended its right to exclude based on a legal precedent set by the KKK, an organization that is designed to serve all youth, but sends explicit messages to gay and atheist youth that they need not apply or worse, that they should hide away and be ashamed of their very existence.

Those cruel messages of hate are reminiscent of a time in American History when people of color were relegated to second class citizenship. Exceptional folk stood up to that kind of systematic dehumanization back then, too. Does the Montgomery Bus Boycott sound familiar? People made sacrifices--carpooling, walking to work, losing their jobs, returning to firebombed homes? Sacrifices at the local level meant social justice on the national level.

This is me when I was attending and loving Camp Balboa twenty-five years ago. I stuck with scouting until I could wear my Eagle Scout badge. And scouting will stick with me long after my decision to resign that badge in 2000.

"Helping other people at all times" is the blueprint for my teaching philosophy. It means that I take stock in ALL of my students. Boy Scouts of America (BSA) National [headquarters] should be sending that kind of message to its own children.

Today I am flanked by others here to thank Council Members Atkins, Zucchet, Lewis, Frye, Peters, and Inzunza for refusing to let the City of San Diego be further tarnished by culpability in the subsidy of discrimination. Among us are fellow Eagle Scouts who know the emotional stakes involved in this issue better than anybody, including a growing list of Eagles who have publicly resigned their badges in protest of BSA National.

We have representatives of the LGBTQ [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender] Center in Hillcrest, The San Diego Democratic Club, and members of PFLAG [Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays] -an organization with a history for helping create a society that is respectful of human diversity. And we have fair-minded individuals--LGBTQ and atheist as well as straight and deeply religious--from throughout the county who believe in inclusive scouting.

The last thing any of us would want is to see little kids like this deprived of park facilities, but this is the only SACRIFICE that can catalyze change in the Boy Scouts of America at the national level.

The eyes of children all across our nation who are in need of a lifeline are upon us.

As a former camper, as a public school teacher, as a father, and as a scout leader who longs to put Eagle Scout BACK on his resume someday, I applaud your valiant decision to approve the settlement between the City of San Diego and the ACLU.

--End of Speech

[Mick was supported by the presence of San Diego's Scouting For All's own Howard Menzer and Ron Sanders as well as members of PFLAG, the Center, and the San Diego Democratic Society.]