The storied beginnings of the historic Boys Town is recalled by generations of Catholics who watched Spencer Tracy portray Fr. Flanagan as he mentored a young Mickey Rooney in the 1938 film named after the orphanage. Despite the institution’s noble beginnings, the sad reality is that the reputation of Boys Town has been marred by allegations of sexual abuse — — by both heterosexuals and homosexuals — over the last 40 years. It now seems to be mimicking the culture in its policies and its hiring of individuals who promote sexual choices the Catholic Church teaches to be perverse. Considering how much sexual abuse in Church “affiliated” institutions has been committed by homosexuals (see the John Jay Report), it is hard not to think that the presence of such individuals at Boys Town puts the vulnerable youth there at risk. The number and kind of charges that have been filed against Boys Town suggests such concerns are legitimate.
Boys Town was founded in 1917 by Fr. Edward Joseph Flanagan in Omaha, NE, and indicates on its website that it has “grown from a tiny boarding home in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, to a leading national nonprofit offering exceptional care for behavioral, emotional and physical health of children, families and patients.” But as recently as last year, Boys Town finds itself on the receiving end of charges of sexual abuse.
In November of 2023, the Des Moines Register reported two recent allegations of sexual abuse perpetrated by an employee of Boys Town. Two young women filed lawsuits against a house father and Boys Town for abuse. One of the lawsuits has already been settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, and the other is set to go to trial this year. According to the Register, there have been twelve rape cases reported to have occurred on campus since 2018.
In October of 2005, a 34-year-old man sued Boys Town alleging sexual abuse at the hands of Fr. Richard Colbert. This lawsuit involving homosexual sexual abuse is the fifth from former students within two years. The other four lawsuit allegations, filed two years prior, were made against employees Michael Wolf and Fr. James Kelly, who are alleged to have sexually abused the boys in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The details of the allegations are highly disturbing, and Boys Town’s handling of the accusations is controversial. Boys Town executives claim to have followed proper procedures in dealing with charges of abuse, whereas victims say that their complaints went unheeded. Note that Boys Town has its own police station which seems to be a conflict of interest. The court dismissal of charges is not exoneration. The detailed nature of the sexual abuse allegations and subsequent settlements strongly indicate a possibility the institution fell short of doing everything it should have in order to protect its vulnerable charges.
What is not in any dispute is Boys Town’s current and unreserved promotion of choices that the Catholic Church teaches are perverse.
Boys Town indicates that it is committed to “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” saying:
Diversity has been a foundational part of Who and What Boys Town is since Father Flanagan began providing care for children in need, regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. Flanagan not only advocated for diversity and human rights, he also made them an inspirational part of our history and tradition.
Boys Town remains committed to fostering an environment of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
The sort of “diversity” currently being promoted by Boys Town is something that Fr. Flanagan would never have tolerated — “advocating” for civil rights and religious freedom is world’s away from promoting the LGBTQ agenda — here, it seems, largely by preferential hiring practices and shaping the work environment to the “needs” of LGBTQ employees. On the same page, the Boys Town website indicates the use of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), which it states are critical to “our organization’s diversity and inclusion strategy.” ERGs are then defined as “voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse inclusive workplace aligned with the organizations they serve.” While this may sound innocuous, one of the ERGs identified in this section is called “Prism (LGBTQ+),” of which Boys Town says the following:
“Prism brings together LGBTQ+ employees and allies, in a safe place where employees can bring their whole self. This group provides resources such as LGBTQ+ friendly healthcare, mental health and other services. Prism also assists in thinking about how to make the organization more inclusive for patients, youth, families, and employees, while providing professional development opportunities and giving back to the community.”
This resource, directed at employees of Boys Town, advances the employment of people from the LGBTQ community into an environment of vulnerable children. For an institution that has been rocked by sexual abuse allegations, one would think that it would take greater caution and be more protective of its vulnerable charges — many of whom have been sexually abused in the past. And yet, Boys Town makes it very clear that it is proud to include sexually “diverse” employees in the work of mentoring children. This picture from an August 3, 2021 facebook posting on Boys Town’s Facebook page shows employees and young children all decked out in LGBT pride rainbows and messages, saying:
“Some great shots of members from the Boys Town PRISM Employee Resource Group in our Boys Town Nebraska and Boys Town South Florida sites represented in #PrideMonth celebrations in their communities!”
Surely this is a way of “normalizing” sexuality “diversity” and drawing young people into that community — an activity that is commonly a part of grooming.
[Editor’s Note: By letter dated 03 October 2024, legal counsel to Boys Town demanded that we retract our report and specifically objected to our use of the terms “perversion” and “grooming”. We decline to retract the report and stand by our reporting. However, our usage of the terms sexual perversion and grooming did not explicitly define either term. We clarify that Lepanto Institute adheres to the traditional Catholic understanding that human sexuality, either male or female, is a gift from God for specific and known purposes; that emotions sometimes cloud the judgment of some persons and tempt them to act on a confused and erroneous perception of God’s intended use of this gift, such that they act in a manner that contradicts God’s plan for human sexuality; that we call such actions in abuse of human sexuality “perversion”, and such that we call any encouragement that risks sanctioning perversion a form of “grooming”.]
The link at the end of this Facebook post, where it says “Read more” leads to an article posted on Boys Town South Florida’s website titled, “Pride & Shine at Boys Town South Florida.” The article indicates that Boys Town was represented at the Palm Beach Pride Market, “sporting their Teach Love (Pride edition) shirts.” At the end of the article, Boys Town announced that its Care Coordination Services and Primary Project departments “can’t wait to attend next year and continue engaging with the Palm Beach County LGBTQIA+ community!”
Another facebook post from Boys Town from August 3, 2021 indicates how “proud” it is to be participating in LGBT events.
On June 5, 2022, Boys Town posted on Facebook the bizarre claim that Fr. Flanagan would have been supportive of the celebration of sexual perversion, saying:
“From the very beginning, Father Flanagan was a pioneer in diversity, equity and inclusion. He welcomed and included kids and employees of every race, nationality and religion to join him in building Boys Town into a place where all would be treated with dignity and respect no matter their background or circumstances. We continue that value today with the creation of our Employee Resource Groups, including PRISM, to celebrate alongside our LGBTQ+ communities.”
A few days later, on June 16, Boys Town posted another LGBT-themed photo on Facebook showing employees at some sort of Pride event. The post strongly advocates for homosexual and transgender identities saying:
“We continue to work to #TeachLove and be a centered place of diversity, equity, and inclusion for all. #PrideMonth #UnitedWeStand #LoveIsLove #EqualityForAll”
On June 28, 2022, Boys Town posted yet another LGBT-affirming message, this time directed at parents. In this message, Boys Town said that parents have a “duty” to ensure that they raise their children to “celebrate diversity and accept … sexual orientations.” The post said:
“It is our duty as parents to raise our children to celebrate diversity and accept people of all races, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and backgrounds. Boys Town is proud to support the LGBTQ+ community and provide resources for parents to use in raising compassionate and inclusive kids. Check out our collection of content to learn ways to raise children who celebrate #diversity: https://bit.ly/DiversityInclusionGuideBT
Read more on how Boys Town teaches love: https://bit.ly/BoysTown-TeachLove
#TeachLove #PrideMonth #LoveIsLove #EqualityForAll #UnitedWeStand”
Again, presumably Fr. Flannery would not have supported celebrating misconceptions that contradict Catholic teaching on human sexuality.
Conclusion
While Boys Town was established by Fr Flanagan, a beautiful priest who worked to promote Christian and Catholic values through Boys Town in caring for wayward boys, it has since lost the charism of its founder, Fr. Flanagan. We, in no way, believe that he would have tolerated in any way, shape, or form the promotion of sexual “diversity” as the institution is doing now. And given the history of sexual abuse allegations, the promotion of sexual “diversity” opens the way for LGBTQ indoctrination and grooming as well. For these reasons, we cannot suggest Boys Town as a “Safe” charity.
CORRECTION: The conclusion initially indicated that Boys Town was established as a Catholic institution. This is an error. Despite the founder having been a Roman Catholic Priest, and the fact that its current president and executive director is a Roman Catholic Priest, Boys Town maintains that it was, and always has been, a non-sectarian organization. Also, we hereby clarify that the use of images within this report is provided to demonstrate the veracity of the factual claims herein, and not to suggest any form of endorsement or other favorable relationship between Lepanto Institute and Boys Town.
…..This is similar to what happened with Covenant House in New York City. Rev. Paul Ritter was the founder & then involved with a number of the troubled youth. It is now the policy of Covenant House to label troubled youth as inherently gay & a new sexual identity.
…..In actuality, the troubled youth who so identify act because they are troubled & are taken advantage of. When you take troubled youth engaging in homosexual activity out of that environment, they change dramatically to a normal style of behavior.
…..Actually, you can see in this article with pictures that you have troubled women who are taking advantage of the situation to tear down the masculine lifestyle. The priesthood has been totally infiltrated. It is all about the creation of one sexual identity which is both male & female.