Boy Scouts and the SCA, was Re: [Sca-cooks] Peers, Pressuring the BoD

[Laura C. Minnick]

At 06:57 PM 4/5/02 EST, you wrote:
 >> How hard is it to find a Handicap accessible camp? Aren't all boy scout
>> camps supposed to be Accessible?
>
>Not necessarily.  Are Boy Scout camps public accomodations, or are they camps
>owned by a private club?  If the latter, they are not required to be
>accessible.  And since the Boy Scouts are allowed to exclude homosexuals, I
>suspect they are a private club.

They are considered a private club, and this was the specific example I was
going to provide- you beat me to it. A year or so ago, I applied for an
administrative job with BSA in southern Oregon, was so appalled at their
attitude I was glad to get a rejection. A couple months later I got a call
from BSA up here and said Are You Kidding? But they insisted that things
were more liberal here, so I went through the process and found out that in
the long run they were really no different. Got down to the final paperwork
and they hired someone in-house. It saved me from having to sign The Oath,
and I was glad of it- I have too many gay griends to be able to do so
blithely.

As a note- many of the people we rent sites from- Masons/Shriners, Odd
Fellows, Elk/Moose/Eagles, Churches, etc, are considered private clubs and
are not subject to accomodation laws. They made provide some things, like
ramps, but that is more for elderly members than anything else.

My suggestion (and yes, Gorgeous, I know it doesn't always help) is this:
you know how we are always whining about people with
allergies/sensitivities/etc. and wouldn't they please call ahead to let us
know and maybe we can accomodate them? Well, it would make sense to me to
put a small blurb in the site copy that says "If you have special needs
that might need accomodation, please contact the autocrat by x date so we
have time to make arrangements." Someone with special needs could also plan
to call ahead (blurb or no) and say "Hi! I'm Joe Blow from the Shire of
Stinking Winds. I'd like to come to you Mud Wallow event next month, but I
have special needs, as I'm in a wheelchair. What is the site like? Are
there ramps/rails/accessible bathrooms/etc? Is it possible to make
temporary arrangments? I know of a couple of places that rent equipment,
etc..." Hey- it's a start! Not perfect, but a polite way to open dialogue
and poke people into realizing that there are disabled people out there too.

As far as I'm concerned, being insensitive and uncaring is a much bigger
disability.

'Lainie

___________________________________________________________________________
"I want to die peacefully in my sleep- like my Grandfather- not screaming
in terror like the passengers in his car." - Garrison Keillor, _Wobegon Boy_