It may come as a surprise that, while I am a transgender woman, I am also an Eagle Scout. Like my dad before me, and my brother shortly after me, each of us met the requirements of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America.
As a woman, one might think that I am conflicted about this achievement, but that is not the case. I view it as one of the top three accomplishments in my life — the other two are my role as dad to two great sons and my transition from male to female, the toughest of the three, and the accomplishment that gives me the greatest pride and happiness.
Still, despite my transition, the lessons I learned in scouting ring true for me, in particular the 12 points of the Scout Law: Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent. It may come as a surprise the degree to which I live my life to these points, both as a woman and long after I left scouting.
The points come originally from Lord Robert Baden-Powell, an Englishman who started the Boy Scouts in England in the early 1900s. Scouting is worldwide now, of course, and scouting in this country run by the Boy Scouts of America.
Two points of the Scout Law have been problematic for the BSA, and these are “Clean” and “Reverent.” The cleanliness the law speaks to is far more than physical cleanliness: It is to be clean in body and spirit. For many years, the scouts viewed homosexuality as a deviant, unclean, way of life. This, of course, is false. I will be the first to tell you that 1) no one chooses their sexual orientation, and 2) no one chooses their gender. The scouts, bowing to public pressure, now accept gay scouts.
Reverence has also been a problem, as boys who have completed all the requirements for Eagle Scout but do not believe in God, or some higher power, have had their Eagle Scout applications rejected. While I do believe in God, I have come to think that for a 15-, 16- or 17-year-old boy, that belief in a higher power may not take precedence when so much is swirling around him: school, hormones, peer pressure, perhaps a job, and family.
As you have probably figured out by now, I love and strive to live by the points of the Scout Law. I don’t look at the Scout Law as something of a bygone era; I think it is as valid today as ever. When I look to make friends, male or female, I surely, but certainly not consciously, look to people who have these characteristics — it’s kind of like an informal human diagnostic test. You can debate the importance of reverence based upon your views, and obedience sounds more like something you’d want from your children or family dog, but who wouldn’t want a friend with the remaining 10 characteristics.
I guess that what is so troubling to me, in this day and age, is how many people, people running our nation, fail this simple 12-point test. Our current POTUS fails on every single one of these items, the first president in my lifetime for which this is the case. There have been presidents who I disagreed with on important issues affecting this country, but I would say that most of them would get decent grades on the 12-point test.
It is more than the current POTUS; a good number of political and business leaders today wouldn’t pass the 12-point test, either. For many, reverence comes down to not a belief in a higher power, but instead in money.
That is a sad testament to what drives far too many people. Still, I am encouraged by the number of people out there who put the important things first: people, nature and the survival of our planet.
Mariel Addis is a native of Florence. She left the area for 16 years but returned in 2013 and loves being back in the Valley.