Zimmerman's rant against allowing homosexual boys to join the scouts makes me sick!  In this day and age when there is so much hate in the world it's unacceptable that you allow this man to share his obvious homophobia and ignorance with us.  I'm a gay man and I was a scout.  I am not and never was a pervert or a predator! At the age of 7 I knew there was something different about me but had no concept of sex.  Growing up should be a positive experience but for me it was hell!  The bullying was unbearable!  I grew up afraid, ashamed and lived a lie!  The years that followed these defining years were filled with depression, thoughts of suicide and a lot of substance abuse.  This lifestyle is a choice…really?  It took a lot of time and work but today I'm a different person.  I'm not ashamed of being gay.  This is who my higher power intended me to be!  I can't go back and do things differently but today I can speak up when I see garbage like Mr. Zimmerman's article.  I think it's wonderful to see young people accepting themselves in a world filled with so much ignorance and ill will that I will never understand.  What I do understand is that my higher power is love and that man brings the hate.

John McAllister
Asbury Park, NJ