PRICE SHOWS HIS PRIDE IN SCOUTING
Channel 5 anchorman
Randy Price emceed the 40th annual Salute To
Scouting gala the other night — an honor that the former Eagle Scout may have had second thoughts about accepting a few years ago before the Boy Scouts of America rescinded a controversial ban on gays.
“I always had great admiration for what Scouting brought to my life and I was offended to see it dragged down by something that didn’t apply to most people’s lives — and was outright discrimination,” Price told the Track. “I thought, ‘Wait a minute, I’m gay and I’ve been part of your organization but now it excludes me?’ ”
Price joined the Boy Scouts as a youngster growing up in Baton Rouge, La., where the Scout troops often were affiliated with local churches and schools.
“I learned a lot about accomplishing goals, personal leadership, being part of a team,” said the WCVB “EyeOpener” anchor. “And there was this great camaraderie with people you went to school with, people from church. There was a lot of crossing over to other things in your life. It was wonderful in that way.”
But in 1991 the Boy Scouts released a position stating: “We believe that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the requirement in the Scout Oath that a Scout be morally straight and in the Scout Law that a Scout be clean in word and deed, and that homosexuals do not provide a desirable role model for Scouts.” The Scouts reaffirmed the policy over the years partially relenting in 2012, when the national leadership agreed to allow gay kids to become Scouts but continued to ban gay adult leaders. The ban finally was rescinded last year, when the national Scout president told the board he believed potential legal challenges made it “unsustainable.”
Price said he continued to support the Scouts all along, but with the caveat that his donations go only to local Scout councils, which had opposed the ban.
“The local council had been fighting it all along the way and when I would send my letter with my contribution I always got a letter back acknowledging that they had a policy that embraces all people and do not participate in any kind of discrimination,” he said.
Price said although the national policy was “very disheartening,” it did allow him to learn “about the great leadership in our neck of the woods, and I’m glad it was finally resolved the way it should have been.”
Earlier this week, Price emceed the Salute To Scouting gala at the Westin Copley Place, where Putnam Investments boss Robert Reynolds and Eastern Bank were honored as “shining examples of corporate citizenship and positive community involvement.”
“I think Scouting today is as meaningful as it was way back when, especially this council that works with a lot of city kids and gives them an adventure away from home,” Price said. “And it’s good that that sad and unnecessary chapter is behind us.”
File Under: Good Scout.