Boy Scouts to end ban on gay leaders

Just three weeks after equal marriage was legalised throughout the US, Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is just one step away from lifting its longstanding ban on openly gay troop leaders, after the organisation’s executive committee voted in favour of the measure yesterday (July 13).

The move comes after BSA President Robert Gates warned that failure to adapt to the modern world could spell the end of the 105-year-old organisation earlier this year (May). The BSA prohibits “open and avowed” LGBT adults from participating in the organisation.

The group’s executive committee voted unanimously to allow – but by no means force – local troops to employ leaders regardless of sexual orientation. The decision will only become official policy if it is backed by the BSA’s 80-member National Executive Board on July 27, the BBC reports.

The BSA ended its ban on openly gay scouts in 2013, but the ban still applies once a scout reaches the age of 18 and applies to be an adult group leader or employee.

“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,” the group said in a statement.

“This change would also respect the right of religious chartered organizations to continue to choose adult leaders whose beliefs are consistent with their own.

The decision appears to have been influenced by the Supreme Court’s historic equal marriage ruling last month, citing the “social, political, and legal changes taking place in our country” as the reason why “the current adult leadership policy cannot be sustained”.

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organisations in the world, with around 2.7 million youth members and 1 million adult members.

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