GOP lawmaker opposes Girl Scouts honor

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Girl Scout Christina Johnson, 9, looks at her merit badges as she listens to Barbara Wilborn talk about her experience as a Girl Scout Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012, at St. Mark United Methodist Church in Chicago. | John J. Kim~Sun-Times

Updated: February 20, 2012 10:40PM

INDIANAPOLIS — A lawmaker has sent a letter to fellow Republican members of the Indiana House saying he will not support a resolution celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts because he believes it is a “radicalized organization” that supports abortion and promotes homosexuality.

In a letter obtained by The Journal-Gazette of Fort Wayne on Monday, Rep. Bob Morris of Fort Wayne said he did some research on the Internet and found allegations that the Girl Scouts are a tactical arm of Planned Parenthood, allow transgender females to join and encourage sex.

“After talking to some well-informed constituents, I did a small amount of web-based research, and what I found is disturbing,” Morris wrote in his letter, which also accused the group of promoting “homosexual lifestyles.”

Morris sent the letter to House Republicans on Saturday.

Ashley Sharp, spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana-Michiana, said Monday a statement on the group’s website states that it leaves sex and reproduction questions to parents. The group accepts transgender youth on a case-by-case basis.

Morris is the only House member to refuse to sign a resolution honoring the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts that lawmakers approved last week. He told the Journal-Gazette that others would join him in opposing the resolution but later recanted that statement in an interview with The Associated Press.

The Girl Scouts are in the middle of their cookie-selling season. Two boxes of the Scouts’ Thin Mint cookies in a snack basket and some empty plastic cookie trays sat just a few feet from the House floor Monday, in a hallway outside Republicans’ offices.