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> Steven Cozza
 Scout's
Honor Takes on Intolerance
Meet
Colin Higgins Courage Award Winner Steven Cozza
When
12-year-old Life Scout, Steven Cozza, submitted a letter to the
editor of the local Petulama, CA newspaper, he was just doing his
duty as a good scout. He had recently been told that his own Boy
Scouts of America (BSA) did not allow gay kids and adults in their
program. Though Steven is not gay, he felt ashamed of the program
he liked so much and began doing his part - including letters to
Congress, requests to the BSA and petitions on street corners -
to see the policy changed.
"I'm
just doing what the Boy Scouts taught me," Steven - now 15
and a freshman at Petulama High School, just north of San Francisco
- says. "The BSA is supposed to represent the very best values
of our society and instead they embrace the worst bigotry and discrimination."
Though he says it isn't always easy speaking in front of large crowds,
this teenager has had the courage to stand by and follow through
on his commitment to seeing this policy eliminated by speaking at
churches, community organizations and, most recently, at the Millennium
March on Washington.
Since
December 1997, when Cozza first took a stand against the BSA's exclusion,
he has collected over 55,000 signatures on a petition he makes available
at community organization appearances, youth advocacy rallies and
the website maintained by his non-profit group, Scouting For All.
On
a typical day in his freshman year life, Cozza wakes at 5:30 a.m
and doesn't get home until after 10 p.m. He's on the Petaluma High
Track team and recently has been working with two teachers at his
school to start a Gay/Straight Alliance. Between his sign language
class at the community college and studying to maintain his 3.4
GPA, he still finds time to devote himself to ending the ban on
gays in scouting through his work with a non-profit he helped to
found, Scouting for All.
That
is, if he's not in San Francisco receiving the Board of Supervisor's
proclamation of Steven Cozza Day or in Washington D.C. accepting
PFLAG's Flagbearer Award alongside honorees such as Coretta Scott
King and Senator Edward Kennedy. Now, in addition to the many honors
and recognitions he's received for being a vocal straight ally to
the cause of gay and lesbian equality, the Colin Higgins Foundation,
founded in 1986 to make grants to youth advocacy organizations in
the name of the acclaimed Hollywood director, is awarding Steven
Cozza $10,000 to further support his efforts.
Though
Steven feels that "the message is more important than the messenger,"
he does admit that it is encouraging to get such prestigious awards
and recognition. With inspiring role models and a dedicated commitment
to the Scout oath, Steven Cozza is waging an all-out battle against
discrimination at the grassroots level and beyond.
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