2013 marks the 50th anniversary of Reverend Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream speech” and the historic march on Washington.

Fifty years later we have a Civil Rights Act that protects people from discrimination of all kinds. Blacks can sit at the same lunch counters as their white peers. Girls can compete in varsity basketball. People cannot be turned down housing because they practice Islam. Discrimination should be dead and gone.

Fifty years later a teenage boy by the name of Ryan Andresen was kicked out of his Boy Scout troop after twelve years of being an active member, along with being denied the rank of Eagle Scout, because he came out as gay.

The Boy Scouts of America, BSA, has strict “values” that prohibit atheists, agnostics, and homosexuals from not only being in adult leadership positions but also from being members. In the Supreme Court case Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000), it was ruled that since the BSA was a private organization it had the “freedom of association,” a first amendment right, that allowed them to admit, and in this case not admit, whom they choose.

Yes, the BSA is a private organization, but then again so is Chick-fil-A. As a private organization Chick-fil-A is allowed to express their views however they may choose. As we have seen in past months Chick-fil-A made their views toward homosexuality very clear. Protest and demonstrations on either side of the controversy spread across the nation.

No one denied Chick-fil-A’s right to express their opinion, but if Chick-fil-A was to refuse to serve gay people we would see news headline comparing it to the Greensboro Four and the historic sit-ins where African American students fought for their right to be served at lunch counters.

Andresen had participated in Boy Scouts for 12 long years. He went on camping trips and earned badges along with boys that most likely became some of his closest friends. To be kicked out for being who he is, is monstrous.

I am a proud member of the Girl Scouts and have been for 12 years as well. In my troop we have members of all types. I found my best friends in the Girl Scouts and went to some of my favorite summer camps through the Girl Scouts. I learned how to be a leader and how to help my community through various community projects that I helped coordinate with the help of my troop. If one of friends was to be told she could no longer participate in any of these activates because of her sexuality I would be furious and heartbroken.

The BSA is not that different from the Girl Scouts. In both these organizations young children are taught the importance of community outreach and leadership skills that can benefit them for a life time. They are about having fun while also helping those around you. These are the kind of messages that all parents want their children to embody.

But what is the BSA teaching young boys today? It is teaching them that gay people, atheist people, and agnostic people do not belong among their ranks because they do not belong in their proper “value” system. These boys cannot participate in food drives with the BSA to help the homeless. These boys are not fit to learn how to rebuild a house after a hurricane ripped it away. These boys just don’t belong.

We live in a country where not only is there freedom of religion but there is also no national religion. People are free to believe or not believe whatever they want. We live in a country where children can go to school and sit next to a student who moved from Pakistan on one side and a student who practices Buddhism on the other.

All people are created equal, there is freedom of opportunity, these are ideas we as Americans hold near and dear to our hearts. Let’s teach these ideals to our children as well.

If an atheist gay boy would like to become a Boy Scout, no one should tell him he can’t.