He spent years learning how to become the right kind of boy. Then one truth made him the wrong kind of Scout. Mike entered Scouting as an anxious, awkward kid desperate to belong. What he found was adventure, friendship, achievement, and a path from terrified newcomer to Eagle Scout and rising youth leader. Scouting taught him how to build fires, lead others, speak with confidence, and perform the version of manhood expected of him.
It also taught him what could happen when the person beneath the uniform did not fit the rules.
Funny, candid, and deeply personal, Boy Pageant is a coming-of-age memoir about growing up gay in the Boy Scouts of America, hiding the truth that could cost him everything, and discovering that acceptance and belonging are not always the same thing.
It is a story of masculinity, ambition, family, exclusion, and ultimately finding the courage to challenge an institution using the very voice it helped him build.
