Philly Scout Gives Back Medal

Cameron Kline and his father are unhappy with the Boy Scouts ban on gay scouts and leaders (screen capture courtesy of NBC10)

“I am gay, my father is not” Cameron Kline said in a letter to the Boy Scouts of America. “Collectively, we have given more than 50 years to the Boy Scouts of America. We’re both Eagle Scouts.”

But because the scouts refuse to permit gay scouts and leaders from serving, Kline wanted to send a message. That’s when he and his dad wrote a letter to the Boy Scouts, returning his own hard-earned Eagle Scout medal – the highest medal a scout can receive. “It really hurt when I saw this policy reaffirmed,” Kline told NBC10. “They’re saying to people like me, ‘No, no, no, you’re not welcome, get out.'”

Many other openly gay scouts have joined Kline in the past year, also returning their medals and speaking up about the ban. “We don’t have an exact count of medals returned recently but we have received a few,” a spokesperson for the scouts told NBC10.

Find out what else Kline has to say about the issue: