A deeper look at two affinity spaces planned for this summer's NOAC

A few weeks ago, I spoke with Nick Morey about the four affinity spaces his team is planning for this summer’s National Order of the Arrow Conference.

If you missed it, Morey gave a broad overview of what the Admonition Team has in store: programming for the LGBTQ+ community, scouts of color, scouts with disabilities, and women in Scouting.

I wanted to learn more about these affinity spaces, so I interviewed the leaders of each space to ask about their plans. This week, I’m sharing details about the LGBTQ+ and women’s spaces in particular. From panel discussions to history displays and more, here’s what you can except from each space.

ArrowPride

I’ve already written about ArrowPride a few times (and I’ll be a member of its staff), but I wanted you to hear about it from its youth lead, Austin Clark.

Clark is an eagle scout from Georgia who’s been involved in the Order of the Arrow since 2013. He’s served as a lodge chief and section chief, but after his term took a years-long break from Scouting to focus on college.

Around the same time last year that he came out to his parents as gay, he decided to get back involved in Scouting through the Admonition Team — work that he says has already helped him heal from his experience of being closeted in Scouting for so long.

Going into NOAC this summer, Clark’s goal for the ArrowPride space is focused squarely on the needs of LGBTQ+ scouters, especially those who might not yet be out.

“The word that comes to mind … is giving dignity to a community that … has always been overlooked and marginalized, and even attempted to be erased. We want to give dignity to those delegates,” Clark told me.

One way Clark plans do to that is through group discussions and presentations about the intersection of Scouting and the LGBTQ+ community — something that, post-membership battles, Clark said will be vital.

“The sooner the better, however with it being 2022, it’s far past due: having a space where delegates, allies can come in and know they can just talk about what they're feeling, how to navigate Scouting — which is a program for everyone — how we can actually actualize that in practice,” Clark said.

He also thinks that scouters are ready to have more conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion more broadly.

“Scouters are looking out into the world, and they see that the world is having these conversations, and they want to have the language to have those same conversations in Scouting,” he said.

The space will also feature a collection of Pride Profiles, the project I’ve been working on and sharing through this newsletter for more than a year now. The profiles will be printed as posters and displayed around the space for delegates to explore and read at their own pace.

Beyond that, Clark said that simply creating an area at the conference for queer or questioning scouts to exist without judgement will be powerful.

“We’re hoping that even if someone just passes a sign saying ArrowPride, if they’re not allowing themselves to explore themselves and their true identity, maybe seeing that sign can prompt them to give themselves permission to be their true selves,” he said.

Women in Scouting

Emma Wright has had a unique experience in Scouts BSA, for more than a few reasons.

She’s always been around the program, ever since her brother Tyler joined when he was in first grade. Back then, girls weren’t allowed to join the Scouts, but as soon as that changed in 2019, Wright was eager to sign up. There was only one problem: No  Scouts BSA girl troops existed in her area.

So she joined as a “lone scout,” and did some of her rank advancement and merit badges alongside her brother’s troop. By October, 2020, she had earned the rank of Eagle Scout — part of the first class of girls to do so. She eventually got enough girls interested in her town to start a troop, where she served as senior patrol leader, and got inducted into the OA. She’s now a vice chief for Coosa Lodge, and was just elected secretary for Section E-6.

All of this has led Wright to her most recent role: Youth lead of the Women in Scouting space at the upcoming NOAC.

“I understand what it’s like to come from a place that doesn’t have a lot of females in Scouting,” she told me. “I wanted to be a part of something where everyone had the opportunity to feel welcomed and like they have a place in Scouting.”

Her plans for the space include a few different opportunities for women in the program to gather, learn and be in community:

• A display of women’s history in Scouting, chronicling the different levels of involvement women were allowed throughout the decades, and the contributions they’ve made to the program
• A space to pose for photos and write “words of wisdom” for the next generation
• A “lunch and learn” session that will feature the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s vice chancellor of research, and include a discussion on serving as a female leader in male-dominated fields
• An invitation for all women at the conference to gather for a group photo

“I hope the overall takeaway that people have from anything that Women in Scouting offers is that they feel like they have a place in Scouting,” Wright said, even if sometimes it doesn’t seem that way. “We want to change that and make it a place where everyone is welcome.”