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 The new policy, which takes effect immediately, comes three years
after the organization removed its prohibition on gay youth, but
local Boy Scout units chartered by religious organizations will
still be permitted to exclude gay adults from volunteering as den
leaders, scoutmasters or camp counselors.
The latest move was widely seen as being aimed at quelling a
backlash against the Boy Scouts amid declining membership and the
threat of litigation, while addressing concerns of religious
institutions that account for about 70 percent of the 100,000-plus
Boy Scout units nationwide.
The rest are chartered to civic groups and educational
organizations.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest of all
Boy Scout sponsors, said in a statement it was "deeply troubled" by
the move and said the Mormons' "century-long association with
Scouting will need to be examined."
The resolution implementing the change was backed by 79 percent of
the National Executive Board members voting and present on Monday,
the Boy Scouts said. The organization's executive committee had
unanimously recommended adoption of the new policy on July 13,
citing a "sea change in the law with respect to gay rights."
The Boy Scouts' president, former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates, called for change in May, saying continuation of the blanket
ban on gay Scout leaders was "unsustainable".
He repeated that assertion on Monday, saying efforts to keep the old
policy intact would lead to "simultaneous legal battles in multiple
jurisdictions and at staggering cost."
Moreover, a number of major corporate sponsors, such as Lockheed
Martin Corp. <LMT.N> and Intel Corp. <INTC.O>, in recent years
dropped their support for the Boy Scouts in protest of policies they
considered discriminatory.
Gates stressed the new policy enables religiously chartered Scouting
units to "continue to use religious beliefs as a criterion for
selecting adult leaders, including matters of sexuality."
However, no adult applying for a job as a paid employee or as a
volunteer outside a local unit will be turned away on the basis of
sexual orientation, according to the resolution.
The decision follows the landmark ruling in late June by the U.S.
Supreme Court legalizing same-sex marriages nationwide.
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The Boy Scouts lifted its ban on gay youth in 2013. The selection of
Gates as president last year was seen as an opportunity to revisit
the policy on adult leaders since he helped end the "Don’t Ask,
Don’t Tell" policy that barred openly gay people from serving in the
U.S. military.
The Boy Scouts of America, whose stated mission is to prepare youth
for life and leadership, has 2.5 million members between the ages of
7 and 21 and about 960,000 volunteers in local units, according to
the organization’s website.
The anticipated end of the Boy Scouts ban has been welcomed by gay
rights advocates and criticized by conservatives.
Zach Wahls, an Eagle Scout and executive director of Scouts for
Equality, has labeled the ban a “towering example of explicit,
institutional homophobia.”
"While we still have some reservations about individual units
discriminating against gay adults, we couldn't be more excited about
the future of Scouting," he said on Monday. He called on those who
left Scouting because of its previous policies to "rejoin the fold."
John Stemberger, chairman of the Christian youth outdoor program
Trail Life USA, said on Friday that lifting the ban would be an
affront to Christian morals and will make it “even more challenging
for a church to integrate a (Boy Scouts) unit as part of a church’s
ministry offerings.”
(Reporting by Marice Richter in Dallas; Writing by Steve Gorman;
Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Ken Wills)
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