Boy Scouts Set To Lift Ban On Gay Leaders
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IRVING (CBSDFW.COM) - The Boy Scouts of America on Monday are expected to lift their longstanding ban on gay leaders. The group's board is scheduled to take up the proposal during a conference call late Monday afternoon and the decision will be announced by the evening. This marks a turning point for the Irving based organization.
The ban barred all openly gay adults from serving as den leaders, scoutmasters and camp counselors. The organization lifted their ban on gay youth members in 2014. An executive committee unanimously voted to end the ban on gay adult leaders earlier this month, passing the final decision onto board members.
Organization president and former defense secretary Robert Gates told the group back in May that it was now time for the 105-year-old institution to make a change. "We must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be," said Gates.
Zach Wahls is an Eagle Scout who was raised by two moms. He is proud of the group's decision to change. "It means an organization which I love, and have been a part of since I was 6, is taking a step toward joining the rest of the country in the 21st Century," Wahls said.
Scouts For Equality has been at the forefront of an online movement surrounding this decision. They have posted more than a dozen pictures on Twitter of people who were removed from the Boy Scouts of America, but may get to rejoin the group after the ban is lifted.
Eric Hay was a Boy Scout for 12 years, and now leads the Dallas chapter of Scouts For Equality. "I think one thing we'll find," he explained, "is that this decision will happen, gay adults will be allowed in Scouts, Scouts will go on doing what it does best, and no one's going to notice, because they're just going to have a lot more great leaders involved."
There are some limitations. The new policy will still allow church-run units to pick leaders who agree with their values. However, the policy change prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in all of the group's paying jobs across the country.
This move comes as thousands of Boy Scouts from around the nation head to Japan for the World Scout Jamboree. The Boy Scouts of America has seen a steady decline in membership over the last few years. Executives hope that this policy change will help increase membership numbers.