CNN is known for being an activist network on the subject of gay rights, so it comes as no surprise that their newest target is the Boy Scouts of America. As Newsbusters’ Matthew Philbin recently pointed out, CNN has close ties to GLAAD (Gays and Lesbians Allied Against Defamation) which might explain its decision to attack any organization that does not support its gay agenda.
The Boy Scouts organization, which does not allow openly gay individuals to join its organization as employees, volunteers or members, has been attacked viciously by CNN since it reaffirmed its position in June of this year. Since then, CNN has brought on numerous guests critical of the Scouts policy, including on Tuesday when it hosted Martin Sizmar, a former Eagle Scout who returned his medal because of their policy on gay individuals serving in their organization. The cable network allowed no one to defend the Scouts. [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
CNN Newsroom host Carol Costello provided an extremely biased and sympathetic interview to Sizmar, giving him a platform to slam the organization for a position it has held for decades. Costello began the interview asking Sizmar to explain how it felt for him becoming an Eagle Scout, the highest honor the organization awards to its members, before letting him spout his displeasure with the Boy Scouts.
Costello decided it was appropriate to ask Sizmar whether or not he was, “really surprised that the Boy Scouts reaffirmed its policy? Religion has always entered into this organization.” Sizmar responded by saying:
Well, religion, yes, but there are a lot of religions that don't believe it's okay to discriminate against gay people. The Episcopal church for example, there a lot of troops that meet in Episcopal churches where there might be a gay priest and yet a gay boy can't be in the troop and tying knots with the other scouts
Costello continued her attack by asking Sizmar whether or not she feels President Obama, who is the honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America, should reconsider having the office of commander in chief hold this position, given the Scouts' stance on homosexuality.
As is typical of CNN, no one was brought in to defend the Boy Scouts, and instead a one-sided ‘interview’ is conducted to prop up the gay agenda of CNN and its friends at GLAAD.
See relevant transcript below.
CNN
CNN Newsroom
08/07/2012
10:50 a.m. EDT
CAROL COSTELLO: It is the highest achievement a Boy Scout can earn. It’s the Eagle Scout medal and badge and it’s not easy to get one, earn one I should say. Only 2% of scouts attain Eagle Scout status. And now dozens of Eagles, as they are called, are returning their medals to the boy scouts. It’s all to protest the organization's reaffirmation on the organization's ban on gays. Martin Sizmar is one of those Eagle Scouts. Good morning and welcome.
MARTIN SIZMAR: Good Morning. Thanks.
COSTELLO: Why did you decide to return your medal?
SIZMAR: They had a secret review and they just decided without really even allowing their board to vote on it that they were going to continue the ban on gay scouts. I just didn’t want to have my Eagle badge as long as they were doing that.
COSTELLO: What did your Eagle Scout status mean? I mean, tell me how special this was for you as a Boy Scout.
SIZMAR: Well I joined scouts after I turned 11 and got I my Eagle right when I turned 18 and it was the biggest day of my life to that point. I mean it was something I was really proud of. I moved around the country. I always brought my badge with me wherever I moved because it was something I really treasured.
COSTELLO: I think the motto is once an eagle, always an eagle, though, right?
SIZMAR: I think that's the motto, but I'm no longer an Eagle. I turned my badge in and I have said that I'm not loyal to the organization anymore so long they’re going to continue a policy of discrimination.
COSTELLO: What did they say when you turned your medal in?
SIZMAR: You know, I haven't heard back. I sent a letter and I posted it to Facebook and a lot of people shared it around and a lot of other Eagles had been doing that before and have done it since. And I haven't heard back yet. The spokesman just keeps kind of sending off the same press release to everybody who asks him about it so I'm not sure what they think.
COSTELLO: Were you really surprised that the Boy Scouts reaffirmed its policy? Religion has always entered into this organization.
SIZMAR: Well, religion, yes, but there are a lot of religions that don't believe it's okay to discriminate against gay people. The Episcopal Church for example, there a lot of troops that meet in Episcopal churches where there might be a gay priest and yet a gay boy can't be in the troop and tying knots with the other scouts. So I was surprised that they did it especially in the way they did after having just a secret review and then handing this down rather than actually discussing it and allowing it to be an issue that they took seriously.
COSTELLO: I understand that the President of the United States is the honorary president of the Boy Scouts. That is the tradition among all of our presidents. Do you think President Obama ought to remain the honorary president of the Boy Scouts?
SIZMAR: I think he should look at it after November and think about it. I think that there are bigger issues for the country to address right now than that. But I think it’s something that he and other politicians who accept awards from the Boy Scouts should think very seriously about.
COSTELLO: Do you think that many Eagle Scouts are following your lead?
SIZMAR: I have seen about a hundred online so far. So I think that there are some. I mean, Eagle scouts tend to be great people and all of the eagles I've met everywhere I've gone, I've met so many great people and they are principled people and I think that, yeah, there will be more that will continue to do this.
