Boy Suts change policy on gay lears | CNN

Contents:

• GAY BOY SUTS? WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR BOYS?
• CAN A GAY BOY SUT SHARE A TENT WH ANOTHER BOY? BOY SUTS SURVEY MEMBERS ON ANTI-GAY POLICY
• BOY SUTS TO ALLOW GAY YOUTHS TO JO
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO ALLOW GAY SUT LEARS
• BOY SUTS LOST 2 LN MEMBERS SCE LIFTG BAN ON GAY YOUTH; NOW MIRED SEX ABE CLAIMS
• BOY SUTS TO REPEAL BAN ON GAY LEARS, WH LIMATNS
• BOY SUTS CUT AGE LIM TO 18 MOVE THAT WILL IMPACT GAYS
• FIRG OF GAY CATHOLIC SCHOOL TEACHER ULD TT LATT SUPREME COURT LG
• BOY SUTS CHANGE POLICY ON GAY LEARS
• BOY SUTS VS. GAYS
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO END BAN ON GAY SUTS; GAY ADULTS STILL BARRED

GAY BOY SUTS? WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR BOYS?

In 1990, the BSA revoked Jam Dale’s volvement on the grounds that homosexuals were banned om membership.

At the time, the BSA stated that havg gay Sutmasters ntradicted the Sut Oath keepg s members “morally straight. In fact, BSA dit a whole paragraph s Sut or Sutmaster eligibily requirements to those who have homosexual clatns. The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms homosexualy, the clatn of beg sexually attracted to the same sex, is herently disorred (CCC 2357).

An all-male anizatn cludg gays should have secured the protectn and safety of the young Suts participatg the BSA. ” The are some of the qutns on a survey beg nducted by the Boy Suts of Ameri as the private youth anizatn prepar to ci whether should end s ntroversial policy banng gay Suts and lears.

CAN A GAY BOY SUT SHARE A TENT WH ANOTHER BOY? BOY SUTS SURVEY MEMBERS ON ANTI-GAY POLICY

But this time, the BSA ed the survey to add qutns about the policy banng gays (those qutns went only to adults) spokman Deron Smh, who provid the qutns on the survey to NBC News, said an email that “the BSA is mted to dialogue on the topic of s membership standards policy, wh the Sutg fay at the lol and natnal levels. The Boy Suts’ policy has creasgly been a sore spot for the anizatn over the last year, followg the dismissal of a n lear bee she is a lbian and the nial of the Eagle Sut rank to a California teen bee he is gay. Tristam HarrgtonWhen the BSA announced late January that may dch the natnal policy and stead let lol sponsorg anizatns ci if gays n jo, the anizatn received a flood of rpons om both sis.

The Boy Suts have asked for the surveys to be returned by April BSA also asked if the currently policy was a “re value” of Sutg and if rponnts would leave the BSA if a cisn was ma that disagreed wh their qutns on the survey clu:A gay male troop lear, along wh another adult lear, is takg a group of boys on a mpg trip followg the youth protectn guil of two-ep learship. A troop is chartered by an anizatn that do not believe homosexualy is wrong and allows gays to be misters.

Johnny’s pack is chartered to a church where the doctre of that fah do not teach that homosexualy is wrong. Related stori: Boy Suts: We need more time for cisn on gay SutsAfter years of heartache, gay Suts and supporters react warily over proposal to lift ban'Gravely distrsed': Relign looms large over Boy Suts cisn on gays 'BATTLESTATIONS! “Boy Suts of Ameri, ” the group said, “believ that homosexual nduct is nsistent wh the obligatns the Sut Oath and Sut Law to be morally straight and clean thought, word and ed.

BOY SUTS TO ALLOW GAY YOUTHS TO JO

) The advent of the Obama admistratn led to several polici aimed at improvg the liv of gays and lbians, and the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that banned openly gay men, lbians and bisexuals om ary service was overturned same year, the Boy Suts of Ameri executive board began what would bee a two-year review of s policy on gays. But 2013, as the group faced cricism om lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr rights groups that assailed as phg discrimatory polici, the Boy Suts formally announced an end to s ban on gay Suts. This created a nundm: Once a gay boy turned 18, he would be barred om the was the challenge facg Pasl Tsier.

Gat, who served unr Print Obama when “don’t ask, don’t tell” was repealed, urged the group to end s ban on gay lears. Wahls, who found Suts for Equaly, a nonprof group that advot for stronger protectns the anizatn for gay and transgenr people, ld the move. Openly gay youths will be allowed to jo sutg, a historic cisn the Boy Suts of Ameri says will keep uncloud by “a sgle, divisive, and unrolved societal issue.

“The rolutn also rerc that Sutg is a youth program, and any sexual nduct, whether heterosexual or homosexual, by youth of Sutg age is ntrary to the virtu of Sutg, ” the 103-year-old anizatn said a statement after the vote. Tyrrell, an terview wh CNN affiliate KTVT, said that the vote energized her for her next ph – to change Boy Sut policy so that gays and lbian adults, like herself, n serve as lears. He claimed that sutg groups now have two optns: to “segregate” gay suts om heterosexual on by puttg them separate tents, or “put homosexual boys wh other boys and put them at risk.

BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO ALLOW GAY SUT LEARS

“While a majory of adults the Sutg muny support the BSA’s current policy of excludg open and avowed homosexuals, young parents and teens tend to oppose the policy, ” the survey said. A recent Washgton Post-ABC News Poll showed that 63% of Amerins said they would support allowg gay youths to jo the Boy Suts.

BOY SUTS LOST 2 LN MEMBERS SCE LIFTG BAN ON GAY YOUTH; NOW MIRED SEX ABE CLAIMS

The vote more than a after the Supreme Court led that the anizatn has the right to keep out gays but also at a time of clg participatn the anizatn.

BOY SUTS TO REPEAL BAN ON GAY LEARS, WH LIMATNS

Ti Perez, the BSA’s natnal missner, said there have been ongog talks wh church and others opposed to the cln of gay suts. But the summer of 1990, Dale received a letter rmg him that his membership had been revoked, simply bee he was gay.

Dpe Dale’s 12-year relatnship wh the Boy Suts, the anizatn severed their ti wh him after learng of a news article that intified him as the -print of his universy’s Lbian/Gay Alliance.

BOY SUTS CUT AGE LIM TO 18 MOVE THAT WILL IMPACT GAYS

In a 5-4 cisn, the Supreme Court narrowly affirmed the Boy Suts right to ny membership to openly gay dividuals. On July 27, a full 25 years after they revoked Dale’s membership, the anizatn announced would extend membership to openly gay lears. The cisn was an important step, but bee left the ban place for openly gay lears, was an unsatisfyg one.

More troublgly, though, the hatn also perpetuated the historic and homophobic perceptn of gay adults as promiscuo dividuals wh nefar tentns.

FIRG OF GAY CATHOLIC SCHOOL TEACHER ULD TT LATT SUPREME COURT LG

Although is now possible for gay lears to serve openly the Boys Suts of Ameri, dog so is still jt that: a possibily, not a guarantee. The Boy Suts has lifted s ban on openly gay lears and employe, but has allowed relig chartered anizatns, which operate more than 70 percent of the Boy Suts Sutg uns, “to e relig beliefs as creria for selectg adult lears, cludg matters of sexualy, ” acrdg to their announcement. The erng body of the Boy Suts of Ameri voted Monday to end s s-long ban on gay sut anizatn's natnal executive board, meetg Texas, nclud that the policy of excludg gay adults "was no longer legally fensible.

" The cisn was approved by 79 percent of the the natnal ban is gone, effective immediately, lol sutg uns reta the abily to reject gay applints for learship posns if hirg them would vlate the un's relig Boy Suts natnal anizatn said would fend any lol sutg group's "good fah refal" to adm a sutg lear based upon the group's relig prcipl.

"The vote reprents a remarkably fast turnaround for the Boy Suts, which only two years ago voted to adm gay young people as suts but kept the ban on adult gay sut then, sutg officials have said, rapidly movg legal velopments forced a told the anizatn May that mt brace for change.

BOY SUTS CHANGE POLICY ON GAY LEARS

"The vote allowg lol uns to turn away gay lears was nmned by some former Sut lears as a timid measure that would allow discrimatn to McGrah, a gay adult lear om wh the Transatlantic Council of Boy Suts of Ameri, lled the vote "an expedient move to preempt legal actn agast BSA natnal, rather than a genue attempt to make BSA clive. "John Stemberger, a Florida lawyer who started a breakaway anizatn lled Trail Life USA after the 2013 vote to adm gay Suts, said by endg the natnal ban on gay sut lears, the Boy Suts "plac the church and relig stutns who sponsor BSA troops at greater legal risk.

BOY SUTS VS. GAYS

"Today’s vote by the Boy Suts of Ameri to allow gay, lbian and bisexual adults to work and volunteer is a wele step toward erasg a sta on this important anizatn, " said Human Rights Campaign Print Chad Griff a statement after the vote. The reasons ced by the AP for the recent drop membership is petn om sports leagu, a perceptn that the BSA is old fashned and the BSA, however, has been steadily losg members, particularly om nservative Christian fai, sce 2013, when adopted an amendment that effectively lifts the ban on homosexual youth the an terview wh The Christian Post that year, Elizabeth Prchard, the pack mtee chair for Pack 928 Southlake, Texas, warned that the vote would acture the anizatn and sre away members who disagreed wh the lg. The Boy Suts of Ameri is expected to end s ban on openly gay lears a limed manner Monday, a historic cisn for one of the natn’s largt youth anizatns, whose s-long stggle over whether to clu gays s ranks has both mirrored and fueled the broar natnal bate over LGBT rights.

The Suts’ current adult learship standards policy prohibs membership to “dividuals who are open or avowed homosexuals. Over the past two s, the anizatn has been creasgly embroiled by battl over whether to ntue excludg gays, a stance that has threatened the Suts wh the specter of stly ligatn and ed some rporate sponsors, cludg Merck, UPS, Uned Way and Intel to whdraw support.

In 2013, the Suts cid to allow gay youths to participate sutg, a policy that took effect the followg year.

BOY SUTS VOTE TO END BAN ON GAY SUTS; GAY ADULTS STILL BARRED

Secretary of Defense, ed a speech at the Boy Suts’ annual natnal meetg this year to ll on the anizatn to repeal the ban on openly gay adults. In his speech, Gat said that a number of factors, cludg potential discrimatn lawsus, ternal disput over the policy and the impendg Supreme Court gay marriage cisn had nvced him that the le was untenable. Those standards clu barrg “open or avowed” gay adults om jog and have been at the center of a ntroversy that has roiled one of Ameri’s most popular youth anizatns for BSA’s Natnal Executive Board Febary ma the cisn a rolutn lowerg the eligibily age such programs as the high-adventure -ed Venturg program, Sea Suts and the Orr of the Arrow, the Boy Suts’ Natnal Honor Society, Smh said.

After last year’s ntroversial ballot to allow gay youth, gay Boy Suts believed they uld ntue on om that program at 18 to Venturg or the Sea Suts program and rema a member the Suts and tw brothers Augt and Liam Easton-Calabria, om left, pose for a portra their home Seattle, Wash., on March 27, 2014. After that “young people who are 18 but not yet 21, will be required to register as adults but may still participate those programs, ” he Boy Suts have grappled wh their policy banng gays for years. In a live webst jt before the ballot to allow gay youth was held last May, BSA lears said gay teens uld still participate the programs that fe olr boys as up to, but not yet, then, the Natnal Council voted to accept the new youth membership standards which said participatn was “open to all youth who meet the specific membership requirements to jo the Cub Sut, Boy Sut, Varsy Sut, Sea Sut, and Venturg programs.

”Liam Easton-Calabria, an 18-year-old openly gay Eagle Sut Venturg said the cisn was “like a slap the face. ”Zach Wahls, -founr of Suts for Equaly, which advot for cln of gays Sutg, said his group was “eply disappoted this cisn and fear for the gay youth who thought they were safe and will now be removed om Sutg unr this new, ill-advised le. 2 ln youth members, has equently been cricized for a lack of s, openly gay people were not allowed to be members or adult lears, a stance that began to change only 2013.