William Boyce Mueller (1942–1993), founder of Forgotten Scouts, is buried in the gay corner of the
Congressional Cemetery
The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...
, in Washington, D.C.
Early life
William Boyce Mueller was the grandson of Chicago publisher
William D. Boyce, the founder of the
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...
.
Activism
On the 75th anniversary from the founding of Boy Scouts of America, Mueller and his mother, Virginia Boyce Lind, led a procession of 10,000 Scouts to pay homage to his grandfather’s grave in
Ottawa Avenue Cemetery,
Ottawa, Illinois
Ottawa is a city located at the confluence of the navigable Illinois River and Fox River in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The Illinois River is a conduit for river barges and connects Lake Michigan at Chicago, to the Mississippi Ri ...
. In October 1992 in San Francisco, Mueller, together with
Ken MacPherson and
Allan Shore, created the first organization to fight against the ban on gay Scouts and Scout leaders, Forgotten Scouts.
"I don't think my grandfather would have wanted me excluded from Scouting just because of my sexual orientation. My grandfather would not have tolerated discrimination. He founded the Boy Scouts for all boys, not just for some. I realized that if people like me don't take a stand, the world isn't going to change."
He is buried at
Congressional Cemetery
The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...
, in Washington, D.C., and his tombstone reads: "Founder of-Forgotten Scouts, Beloved son of Virginia Boyce Lind, Grandson of William Dixon Boyce, Founder of-Boy Scouts of American".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mueller, William Boyce
1942 births
1993 deaths
American gay men