It’s expected that the scouting organization responsible for many an adolescent camping trip will announce an end to its ban on gay den leaders, scoutmasters and camp counselors on Monday, The New York Times reports.
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The action expected Monday is the official ratification of aresolution to amend the Scouts’ leadership policy that the group’s Executive Committee unanimously voted to adopt July 10.
Boy Scout units that are chartered to religious entities – which comprise the majority of units – are explicitly allowed the option of maintaining it under the new resolution, and pledges indemnity from lawsuits that may spring from their decisions to do so. The Boy Scouts of America has seen a steady decline in membership over the last few years.
The Boy Scouts is one of the largest youth organizations in the U.S., with more than 2 million members, but WNCT dug a little deeper to find out exactly how this would impact troops in your backyard.
Under the decision, Church-based units can continue to choose adult leaders whose quote “beliefs are consistent with their own”.
“There are differences of opinion, and we need to be respectful of them”, California leader Michael Harrison told the Times.
The move follows the Boy Scouts of America National annual meeting in May in which Robert M. Gates, the organization’s president and former secretary of defense and former director of central intelligence, encouraged the group to “to reflect on the challenges, primarily regarding adult leadership standards, facing the BSA and potential alternatives for addressing them”, according to a statement.
This middle-of-the-road arrangement has caused some outlets to view this as less than a total victory for gay rights. “And that should not be sullied by discrimination, I think that’s really self-evident”.
In a written statement, he said, “This change in membership policy places the churches and religious institutions who sponsor BSA troops at greater legal risk”.
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The 17-member executive committee of BSA earlier this month backed a resolution that would end the organisation’s blanket ban on gay leaders.
