Gates, who became the BSA’s president in May 2014, said at the time that he personally would have favored ending the ban on gay adults, but he opposed any further debate after the Scouts’ policymaking body upheld the ban.
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WASHINGTON – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker – and newly minted 2016 GOP presidential candidate – said Tuesday that he disagreed with the Boy Scouts’ decision to allow gays to serve as troop leaders.
A former St. Paul Boy Scout is suing the Boy Scouts of America and its local chapter, the Northern Star Council, over abuse he says occurred at the hands of his scout leader 45 years ago.
According to the suit, the plaintiff was abused “on multiple occasions” from 1966 to 1971 by Leland Opalinski, a bakery route salesman who volunteered as a Scout leader with Troop 12 at First Covenant Church in St. Paul.
“I was totally shocked and deeply hurt and very mad and still am”, he said.
The policy change would go into effect immediately after, the organization said.
Rick Scott will honor the Boy Scouts of America this week at ICAST after the organization recently awarded its 2 millionth fishing merit badge.
In January 2014, the Boy Scouts changed its policy to allow openly gay youths to join the organization.
A legal memo which was prepared by Hughes Hubbard and Reed recommended that the best way for the BSA to protect their religious freedom in the organization would be by affirming that any religious chartered organization can select adult leaders depending on religious beliefs.
“If we wait for the courts to act, we could end up with a broad ruling that could forbid any kind of membership standard, including our foundational belief in our duty to God, and our focus on serving the specific needs of boys” Gates said.
Gay rights advocates welcomed the new resolution but still found fault with it.
BSA officials noted that sexual activity would still not be permitted among scouts despite the change in policy.
The Boy Scouts’ National Executive Board will vote on the resolution on July 27.
The Mormon church, in a statement, indicated that this stance was crucial to its continued role as a leading sponsor of Boy Scout units.
The resolution includes exemptions for faith-based groups.
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[Scott Walker: Boy Scouts ban on gay leaders “protected children’]”. In their words, “The message of Scouting is one of toleration and respect for different religious and moral conclusions in this matter, acknowledging that reasonable minds may honorably differ”. That represents about 6,500 boys and 2,000 adults Etzerhouser said.
