Boy Scouts lift ban on gay adult leaders
Churches can still exclude gay leaders, despite the change.
The organization's national executive board voted July 27 to remove the national restriction. The vote was overwhelming, according to a news release from the organization -- 79 percent voted in favor of lifting the ban.
In a statement published on the organization’s website, Robert M. Gates, national president of the Boy Scouts of America and a former secretary of defense, said the ban was unsustainable.
Keeping it in place would have resulted “in simultaneous legal battles in multiple jurisdictions and at staggering costs,” he remarked. “For far too long this issue has divided and distracted us. Now it’s time to unite behind our shared belief in the extraordinary power of scouting to be a force for good in a community and in the lives of its youth members.”
It remains to be seen how much of a difference the policy change will make. Boys join the program through “civic, faith-based, and educational organizations called chartered organizations,” according to the group’s website, which added that more than 100,000 scouting units are affiliated with these chartered groups. Of that number, about 70 percent are faith-based organizations, 22 percent are civic groups and nearly 8 percent are educational organizations.
Chartered organizations can still select their adult leaders, and religious ones may “continue to use religious beliefs as criteria for selecting adult leaders, including matters of sexuality.”
Even so, there are objections to the new policy.
Prominently, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement saying it was deeply troubled by the decision. "When the leadership of the Church resumes its regular schedule of meetings in August, the century-long association with Scouting will need to be examined. The Church has always welcomed all boys to its Scouting units regardless of sexual orientation. However, the admission of openly gay leaders is inconsistent with the doctrines of the Church and what have traditionally been the values of the Boy Scouts of America.”
The Boy Scouts have 2.5 million youth members between the ages of 7 and 21 and approximately 960,000 volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories, according to the organization's website. Even though gay leaders had been banned until this month, in 2013, the group voted that "no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone."
In a statement published on the organization’s website, Robert M. Gates, national president of the Boy Scouts of America and a former secretary of defense, said the ban was unsustainable.
Keeping it in place would have resulted “in simultaneous legal battles in multiple jurisdictions and at staggering costs,” he remarked. “For far too long this issue has divided and distracted us. Now it’s time to unite behind our shared belief in the extraordinary power of scouting to be a force for good in a community and in the lives of its youth members.”
It remains to be seen how much of a difference the policy change will make. Boys join the program through “civic, faith-based, and educational organizations called chartered organizations,” according to the group’s website, which added that more than 100,000 scouting units are affiliated with these chartered groups. Of that number, about 70 percent are faith-based organizations, 22 percent are civic groups and nearly 8 percent are educational organizations.
Chartered organizations can still select their adult leaders, and religious ones may “continue to use religious beliefs as criteria for selecting adult leaders, including matters of sexuality.”
Even so, there are objections to the new policy.
Prominently, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a statement saying it was deeply troubled by the decision. "When the leadership of the Church resumes its regular schedule of meetings in August, the century-long association with Scouting will need to be examined. The Church has always welcomed all boys to its Scouting units regardless of sexual orientation. However, the admission of openly gay leaders is inconsistent with the doctrines of the Church and what have traditionally been the values of the Boy Scouts of America.”
The Boy Scouts have 2.5 million youth members between the ages of 7 and 21 and approximately 960,000 volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories, according to the organization's website. Even though gay leaders had been banned until this month, in 2013, the group voted that "no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone."
Related:
Survey: Acceptance of gay children growing
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