Morally Straight

<b><b>This deeply-reported narrative illuminates the battle for LGBTQ+ inclusion in the Boy Scouts of America, a decades-long struggle led by teenagers, parents, activists, and everyday Americans.</b></b><br><br>Weaving in his own experience as a scout and journalist, Mike De Socio’s <i>Morally Straight </i>tells a story that plays out over the course of nearly forty years, beginning in an era when gay rights were little more than a cultural sideshow; when same-sex marriage was not even on the radar; and when much of the country was recommitting to conservative social mores. It was during this treacherous time that accidental activists emerged, challenging one of America’s most iconic institutions in a struggle that would forever change the country’s view of gay people and the rights they held in society.<br> <br>In <i>Morally Straight</i> we meet James Dale, the poster child of Scouting who took his fight for inclusion to the Supreme Court; Steven Cozza, the 12-year-old scout in California who started a movement for inclusion called Scouting for All; Jennifer Tyrrell, the lesbian den mother whose expulsion from the Scouts reignited the gay membership controversy; Zach Wahls, the son of lesbian moms who led the final push for policy change; and an array of other previously unknown Scouters who played smaller—but no less crucial—roles in the fight for full inclusion.<br> <br>Richly reported and filled with unforgettable people, <i>Morally Straight </i>braids together these characters and brings to life their collective struggle. This is an essential narrative in the American LGBTQ+ rights movement, and a truly American story about the fight for a better future for our nation’s bedrock youth organization.