While most of the United States celebrates the current Girl Scouts cookie season by munching on Thin Mints and Samoas, an Indiana lawmaker has decided to rail on the group instead.
Indiana House Republicans put forth a resolution last week to honor the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts, but Rep. Bob Morris (R-Fort Wayne) put his foot down and refused to sign it, calling the group a “radicalized organization” that promotes “homosexual lifestyles” and supports abortion.
Morris, the only member not to support the resolution, issued a letter to his fellow congressmen explaining his objections, according to the Journal Gazette.
“I challenge each of you to examine these matters more closely before you extend your name and your reputation to endorse a group that has been subverted in the name of liberal progressive politics and the destruction of traditional American family values,” Morris said.
Morris claims that he conducted “web-based research” and that what he discovered was “disturbing.” He also claimed that the Girl Scouts distributed a pamphlet about sex from Planned Parenthood, a charge that the Girl Scouts of the USA has repeatedly denied.
The lawmaker may be referring to websites like the one for the Illinois Right to Life Committee, which has previously called for a boycott of the Girl Scouts after claims that the group had “partnered” with Planned Parenthood in an “unholy alliance with the nation’s largest abortion provider.” Also, unlike the Boy Scouts of America which prohibits “avowed” homosexuals, Girl Scouts of the USA openly accepts gay and lesbian members.
While Morris claims he has the support of some unnamed colleagues, others spoke out against Morris’ attack on the Girl Scouts.
Rep. Kathy Richardson (R-Noblesville) told the Gazette, “I guess [Morris is] entitled to his opinion, [but the Girl Scouts] are out selling cookies — not sex and abortions.”
Rep. Win Moses (D-Fort Wayne) called the attempt by Morris to “politicize” and “demonize” the Girl Scouts “unfair.”
“I’m shocked they would be treated in this manner,” Moses added.