Boy Scouts Of America Moves To Lift Nationwide Ban On Gay Adults
Earlier this year, Robert Gates, current National President of the Boy Scouts of America and former head of the CIA, asked leadership to give some thought to the organization’s current standards.
According to an announcement by BSA, the committee’s vote on the matter was unanimous. It now goes before the BSA National Executive Board to be ratified on July 27.
“This resolution will allow chartered organizations to select adult leaders without regard to sexual orientation,” reads the committee’s statement on the resolution. “This change allows Scouting’s members and parents to select local units, chartered to organizations with similar beliefs, that best meet the needs of their families.”
At the same time as it lifts the organization-wide ban on gay adults, the ultimate decision at the troop level is left up to each individual charter.
“This change would also respect the right of religious chartered organizations to continue to choose adult leaders whose beliefs are consistent with their own,” explains the committee.
BSA has been under increased pressure to allow troops to bring on adult leaders regardless of their sexual orientation. In 2014, Disney’s Ears To You program ceased its funding of scout troops over the organization’s across-the-board ban.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, whose office recently wrote to the BSA to remind the organization of its obligation to uphold equal protections for every person in that state, says he’s pleased with today’s news.
“In a year already marked by historic advancements for the rights of LGBT Americans, today’s announcement by the Boy Scouts is yet another important step forward,” said Schneiderman in a statement e-mailed to Consumerist. “I am pleased that the Boy Scouts have taken steps to join the growing list of organizations and companies that share my office’s commitment to equal justice for all.”
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