Boy Scouts Takes Major Step Toward Ending Ban on Gay Scout Leaders

By MARC TORRENCE (Patch National Staff)

The Boy Scouts of America’s National Executive Committee unanimously voted to lift a ban on gay adult scout leaders, according to a release from Scouts for Equality.

The BSA National Executive Board will vote on the proposal in two weeks, Monday, July 29, and if passed, the changes would go into effect immediately.

According to Scouts for Equality, the change would:

1. Eliminate the BSA’s across the board ban on openly gay or bisexual adults in scouting.
2. Allow each individual troop or unit to determine its own policy regarding the eligibility of openly gay or bisexual scoutmasters or other adult leaders.
3. Prohibit regional governing councils or non-Troop entities such as boy scouts camps from discriminating against employees and volunteers based on their sexual orientation.
4. Allow previously removed leaders to reapply for their positions.

Troops will still have leeway to set their own rules regarding scout leaders. This allows troops chartered by organizations like churches to set rules according to their “religious and moral conclusion.”

The vote is a big win for advocates of a more inclusive scouting community.

“Today’s announcement hopefully marks the beginning of the end of the Boy Scouts of America’s decades-old ban on gay leaders and parents like my two moms,” Scouts for Equality Executive Director Zach Wahls said in a statement issued Monday. “In two weeks, the BSA’s national executive board will vote to ratify a resolution that has already been unanimously adopted by their executive committee.”

The full resolution can be read here.