Boy Scouts of America reconsidering policy on gay members

The Boy Scouts of America is reconsidering its policy banning gay scouts. The Boy Scouts announcement that it may reconsider its gay scout policy comes after years of protests and a decline in membership.?

By Staff,?Associated Press / January 28, 2013

The Boy Scouts of America is reconsidering its position on admitting gay members. An Eagle Scout patch/2012.

Reuters

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The?Boys?Scouts?of America is considering a dramatic retreat from its controversial policy of excluding gays as leaders and youth members.

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Under the change now being discussed, the different religious and civic groups that sponsor?Scout?units would be able to decide for themselves how to address the issue ? either maintaining an exclusion of gays or opening up their membership.

Monday's announcement of the possible change comes after years of protests over the policy ? including petition campaigns that have prompted some corporations to suspend donations to theBoy?Scouts.

Under the proposed change, said BSA spokesman Deron Smith, "the?Boy?Scouts?would not, under any circumstances, dictate a position to units, members, or parents."

The?Boys?Scouts, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010, has long excluded both gays and atheists. Smith said a change in the policy toward atheists was not being considered, and that the BSA continued to view "Duty to God" as one of its basic principles.

Protests over the no-gays policy gained momentum in 2000, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the BSA's right to exclude gays.?Scout?units lost sponsorships by public schools and other entities that adhered to nondiscrimination policies, and several local?Scout?councils made public their displeasure with the policy.

More recently, amid petition campaigns, shipping giant UPS Inc. and drug-manufacturer Merck announced that they were halting donations from their charitable foundations to the?Boy?Scouts?as long as the no-gays policy was in force.

Also, local?Scout?officials drew widespread criticism in recent months for ousting Jennifer Tyrrell, a lesbian mom, as a den leader of her son's Cub?Scout?pack in Ohio and for refusing to approve an EagleScout?application by Ryan Andresen, a California teen who came out as gay last fall.

"An end to this ban will restore dignity to countless families across the country, my own included, who simply wanted to take part in all?scouting?has to offer," Tyrrell said. "My family loved participating inscouting, and I look forward to the day when we might once again be able to take part."

Many of the protest campaigns, including one seeking Tyrrell's reinstatement, had been waged with help from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

"The?Boy?Scouts?of America have heard from?scouts, corporations and millions of Americans that discriminating against gay?scouts?and?scout?leaders is wrong," said Herndon Graddick, GLAAD's president. "Scouting?is a valuable institution, and this change will only strengthen its core principles of fairness and respect."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/8OEpOVYP_VA/Boy-Scouts-of-America-reconsidering-policy-on-gay-members

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