Dear Boy Scouts,

As a member of the United States Army, a medical student at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, and an assistant to an Akela of a Cub Scouts troop in Los Angeles,

I endorse lifting the ban on gay scouts.

If I am able to serve my country with gay men and women, then Boy Scouts should allow gay men and boys to participate. Many members of the military were once boy scouts and teaching children to work side by side with their colleagues, no matter what their gender, would serve them well should they one day join the military.

As a medical student we are taught that it is scientific fact that some children are born with chromosomes of a girl but deliver from their mother's womb looking like a boy. This particular syndrome is called XX male syndrome. There is a long list of other hormonal or molecular changes that cause sexual differences in the spectrum of XX male syndrome. Someone who is born a certain way, no matter what the cause, should not be excluded from activities that could help them develop into successful human beings. Sexual and gender differences should not result in exclusion no more than race, disability, or socioeconomic status precludes participation.

And as a contributing member to the Cub Scouts of Los Angeles I find it difficult that while I teach to cub scouts "a person should be judged by the content of their character," overarching policy differs. Let the thousands of boy scouts across this nation truly learn the meaning of tolerance, learn the meaning of equality, and be a part of ending oppression and injustice.

I encourage you to watch or rewatch the speech of Martin Luther King Jr "I have a dream." One might find his words applicable in your decision. Please remember MLK Jr said, "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

Very Respectfully,
2ND LT. Carlos Istacuy