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Calling it “absolutely the best policy,” the Boy Scouts of American on Tuesday said it plans to keep in place its controversial policy banning gay scouts and scout leaders, following a confidential two-year review.
The BSA ruled out reversing the anti-gay policy, despite online campaigns by gay rights advocates and advocacy groups, reported the Associated Press.
An 11-member special committee, formed discreetly by top Scout leaders in 2010, “came to the conclusion that this policy is absolutely the best policy for the Boy Scouts,” the organization’ national spokesman, Deron Smith, told The Associated Press.
Smith said the committee, comprised of professional scout executives and adult volunteers, was unanimous in its conclusion — preserving a long-standing policy that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 and has remained controversial ever since.
As a result of the committee’s decision, the Scouts’ national executive board will take no further action on a recently submitted resolution asking for reconsideration of the membership policy.
Associateed Press, via CBS News
Last month, the Boy Scouts said the organization was considering a resolution proposed at the group’s annual meeting in May that called for ending the policy. But the decision announced Tuesday means the Scouts’ board will take no further action on that resolution, Smith said.
On May 30, LGBT advocate Zach Wahls — an Eagle Scout and the son of lesbian parents — accompanied by officials from Change.org, delivered a petition containing more than 275,000 signatures to the Boy Scouts, asking for the reinstatement of Jennifer Tyrrell, a volunteer den mother from Ohio who was ousted from the group in April because she is lesbian.
Wahls denounced what he said was “the secretive nature surrounding how this conclusion was reached” and called the announcement “old news.”
“This is a missed opportunity of colossal proportions,” said Chad Griffin, President of the Human Rights Campaign.
“With the country moving toward inclusion, the leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have instead sent a message to young people that only some of them are valued. These adults could have taught the next generation of leaders the value of respect, yet they’ve chosen to teach division and intolerance,” said Griffin, in a statement.
Tuesday’s announcement comes despite efforts by BSA executive board members James Turley, Ernst & Young CEO, and Randall Stephenson, AT&T CEO, who recently indicated they would try to work from within to change the Boy Scouts’ anti-gay policy. Both of their companies have been commended by gay-rights groups for gay-friendly employment policies.
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WOW! 8.( . – Sad.
I love how the held the study in secret. As if that gives it legitimacy
Lets just keep the hate boy scouts. hate as American as apple pie, and boy scouts. Fantistic family values.
not a shock WHAT IS SHOCKING discounted rates for RENTING space in San Diego and other cities tha thave LAWS agasint discrimination!
Where has the humanity gone???
sigh :(
Ridiculous
So wrong, scouting should be for all boys regardless of their sexual orientation, thankfully the GSA never had this policy. If they are worried about Pedophilia then they better check the Straight Men in their organization! Sandusky should be a perfect example!
as a gay man who was a scout, I find this very sad. I have such great memories of being a scout but because the organization chooses to hold such an archaic and close-minded position, I would never let any child of mine participate.
How gay could be this: a bunch of man, sleeping on the same camp tent, maybe taking a bath together.. mm that sounds the begin of a gay behavior
psh like they were founded by gays…look at those ascots
yet they still let pedophiles in just as long as they aren’t gay!!
wow narrow minded much?
I wanted my son to join the Boy Scouts but then I couldn’t bring myself to it after I watched the movie Crips & Bloods: Made in America. I could not support an organization steeped in racism. I didn’t realize how homophobic they are. I’m glad my son isn’t a Scout.
great policy until the next ‘straight’ scout leader turns out to be a Sandusky!
it’s a good thing they don’t sell boy scout cookies…I wouldn’t buy them.
They tolerate pedophiles tho
It makes me wonder if we truly live in 2012. This organization in clearly living in 1912.
The BSA needs to get with the times and stop discriminating against people.
pitty!
flarg
then there about to loose many scout leaders !
Well I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t get the chance to sign my boys up…
It’s a religious group what did you expect them to do
Now if only they were just as hard on pedophiles . . .
Kind of funny since the founder of the Boy Scouts was a closeted Homo!
It’s sad that humans are so prejudiced. Race, mental health, gender identity, sexual orientation. We always find something.
Time to found an accepting alternative organization.
I am very saddened by their “closed door” decision. They have hurt many young men by this decision.
If they truly addressed the pedophile issue they’d have to recruit women into all direct contact positions. Can you imagine the uproar??!!!
So much for this institution. Bye.
Ok so then someone start Scouts for all boys of America!!
What a sad day for the BSOA
I feel bad for the young boys of scouting and future scouts. This organization provides great skill building and leadership but being discriminatory makes me believe differently. I am more ashamed than ever to know that I am an eagle scout…
This is no surprise, unfortunately. Sad how this policy teaches boy scouts that intolerance, discrimination, exclusivity, and bias are A-OK. And u/ the guise of “morality”! Such hateful teachings go beyond the pale of rationality and humanity.
Check out Camp Fire Kids of America. They have always been very open. My partner and I have sent our three kids to their camps for years, as do many other gay families we know. We steered clear of BSA from the beginning.
WHY????
Where should I return my Eagle award?
how do people get involved to help reverse this policy? this is discrimination.
Remember when they said that about black kids?
I think paying attention to a group like the Boy Scouts is pretty much a waste of time in an era where we have bigger fish to fry. Simply cut off any funding they get from the community, reroute it to the Girl Scouts and feel better knowing that your hard-earned money is going to an actual deserving organization. As for the Boy Scouts, they are so stuck in the past that by now they have about as much social relevance as a Betamax video tape does to a Blu Ray player.
Ugh. I have friends with children who are involved in BSA. I continue to show support for the kids, as this was not their choice. However, if/when I have children, we will find something more “up-to-date.”
every boy scout i know ended up being gay if not during the after scouts.
I can only assume they don’t need all the excellent leaders they can attract.
I was in the boy scouts.
Shame on the Boyscouts. Maybe they would reconsider if all open minded people Boycotted the Boyscouts!! Because they are sending the wrong messages to our sons. Some of whom I am fairly certain may grow up to be gay or transgendered too. This is how hate is perpetuated in our world.
I agree with Hope Glassberg Compean Novellos point. This is very true
The true fact is there are more Gays And bisexuals than striaghts . A study has proven.
so they can keep screwing in the secret tent?
Yikes! This was a terrible, ignorant decision. The whole country is moving towards respect and inclusion for the LGBT community. The BSA’s anti-gay stance may prove to be a Pyrrhic Victory for the bigots … I can see a major backlash against this by people supporting equality.
If I had sons, the BSA would be the LAST place I’d let them join. CREEP!!!!!!!!!!!!
That policy ruling almost sounds as if they approve of keeping a policy of bullying on a specific group. Some of the worst bullying that I ever went through, was in the boy scouts. Some things will never change.
I guess I’ll never understand how the minds of those people work, how would having a few homosexual or bisexual members influence the BSA in a negative way? it’s like the owner of a restaurant saying ‘I don’t like pickles, let’s wipe them off the menu!’
There has been numerous incidents involving same sex activities in certain Boy Scouts camps publicized in the news……Are you really serious about Anti Gay policies? This should be illegal in this great democratic country. ……Why is it that so many wants to bash the LGBT community in a democratic country, in the 21st century. There are gay people in the world people. To discriminate against gay people you might as well continue to discriminate against the color of someone’s skin and a person’s religious denomination; Protestant. Catholic, Muslim, Jews, Pentecostal, Atheist, Agnostic, etc, etc. There are an overwhelming close to 20,000,000 in the LGBT community. Those in the LGBT communities should stand up for themselves cause this is outrageous. People have the right to be and practice what they feel is suitable for them so long it is not putting anyone in danger. Whatever happen to CIVILITY, RESPECT for one-another as well as CO-EXISTING which means you dont have to like me yet in the name of morals ethics and civility we must learn to co-exist in order for our country to progress. There are so much to do why in the world so many focus’ on the LGBT community as if gay people have no rights. They exist and they are human beings let them be judged by your GOD on judgement day.
Another reason my son will never be a boy scout!!!
I don’t really see how anyone should be surprised…they are Mormon run, so it is really a no brainier that they have no intention of changing anytime soon.
So sad, once was a great organization….
I think our dear old chap, baron Baden Powell would turn in his grave! I believe he too was one of us. ‘The love that dare not speak his name.’ ‘a single man’, ‘light in his loafers’. At least I had fun those 8 years at scouting, although bullied here and there. Too bad leaders of BSA want to make it more of a ideological show piece. Maybe they need to be remembered about the oath: ‘a scout is a brother to ALL other scouts’
end boy scouts
it is a shame and an embarrassment to all of us who were in the Boy Scouts in the years of our youth and then as adult leaders. I truly believe the leaders that came to this decision have let down all of the past, present and future young men that must live by ignorance of this decision.
fuck the boy scouts… oh wait, in high school I was doing just that..
@John Mattson: So were the scoutmasters.
Jane, not only were we created equally, but in God’s image.
Whao! They’re so hostile!