LDS Church pleased wh BSA promise on gay Suts |

Contents:

• MORMON CHURCH WILL KEEP TI WH BOY SUTS DPE OBJECTG TO GAY LEARS
• MORMON CHURCH OK WH ENDG BOY SUTS' BAN ON GAY YOUTH
• WHY MORMONS ARE SO VASTATED BY THE BOY SUT VOTE ON GAY LEARS
• MORMON CHURCH EMBRAC THE BOY SUTS, GAY OR STRAIGHT
• MORMON MOM: CHURCH'S REFAL TO ACCEPT GAY BOY SUT LEARS IS 'TRAGEDY'
• BOY SUTS END BAN ON GAY LEARS, OVER PROTTS BY MORMON CHURCH
• LDS CHURCH PLEASED WH BSA PROMISE ON GAY SUTS

MORMON CHURCH WILL KEEP TI WH BOY SUTS DPE OBJECTG TO GAY LEARS

26, 2015The Mormon Church announced Wednday that would ntue s close associatn wh the Boy Suts for now, endg speculatn that would sever ti bee of the Suts’s cisn last month to let openly gay men and women serve as July, bowg to growg legal and public prsur, the erng board of the Boy Suts of Ameri voted to perm openly gay adult lears. That followed s cisn 2013 to perm participatn by gay a promise aimed at preventg fectns by relig nservativ — cludg the Mormons, who are the largt sgle sponsor of Boy Sut uns — the board said that lol sponsors wh relig objectns uld select volunteer lears acrdance wh their own the time, the rponse om the Mormons was unexpectedly sharp and clud a threat to leave the Suts anyway.

”Zach Wahls, the executive director of Suts for Equaly, which has mpaigned to end discrimatn agast gay suts and lears, said Wednday that he was pleased wh the Mormons’ cisn to rema the fold for now. ”A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 10 of the New York edn wh the headle: Mormon Church Will Keep Ti Wh Boy Suts Dpe Objectg to Gay Lears. The Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats has given tac approval to the Boy Suts’ proposal to allow gay youth to jo, sayg they “appreciate the posive thgs” clud the plan to end the anizatn's ntroversial ban on gay Boy Suts of Ameri last week proposed allowg gay youth – but not adults – to participate the private youth anizatn.

That me two months after they floated the ia of allowg gays and lbians of all ag to jo, a proposal that was nounced by the nservative relig groups that make up a bulk of Sutg.

MORMON CHURCH OK WH ENDG BOY SUTS' BAN ON GAY YOUTH

Its biannual “The Voice of the Sut Survey, ” nducted earlier this year, for the first time clud qutns on gay the 280 admistrative lol uncils, half remend no change, 38 percent remend a change and 14 percent took a ntral posn, the Suts said.

WHY MORMONS ARE SO VASTATED BY THE BOY SUT VOTE ON GAY LEARS

Followg a long-standg ntroversy, the anizatn 2014 lifted their ban on openly gay members, 2015 allowed openly gay adult sut lears for the first time, and 2017 allowed transgenr boys to jo for the first time.

Dpe matag their partnership wh the Suts up until the May 2018 announcement, Church lears have recent years greeted succsive BSA announcements about the cln of gay, transgenr and female members wh obv unease and utn. The Mormon Church officially accepts openly gay and lbian dividuals as members and lears, but only if they rema celibate, as the Church's web se not: "Sexual relatns between a man and woman who are not married, or between people of the same sex, vlate one of our Father Heaven’s most important laws and get the way of our eternal progrs.

When the BSA moved to accept gay and transgenr members recent years, the Church obtaed assuranc om the Suts that the Church uld "operate s programs ways that are nsistent wh our standards and beliefs. The Boy Suts’ vote Monday to lift s ban on openly gay troop lears was a blow to tradnal fah groups heavily volved sutg, but perhaps to none more than the Mormon Church, which sutg and the relig life of boys are eply tertwed.

MORMON CHURCH EMBRAC THE BOY SUTS, GAY OR STRAIGHT

Rencilg s relatnship wh the Boy Suts as the natnal youth group bee more acceptg of gay equaly appears to be growg more difficult for the Mormon Church, whose prs office put out a statement Monday, sayg lears were “eply troubled” by the liftg of the ban, as well as by the fact that they had asked for a lay the vote bee the church burecracy tak off ligatn, the Suts Monday approved a new policy allowg troops to pick openly-gay volunteer lears and banng discrimatn the hirg of employe. But puzzled some observers bee the Mormon Church has ma high-profile efforts the last year or so to soften s ments about sexualy and the place of gays and sprg gay advot and Mormon lears Utah ma headl when they announced they’d been secretly meetg for many months and had hammered out a promise to ban discrimatn hog and employment agast LGBT people. Both sis said they were willg to regnize the needs of the tail of that promise, however, may shed light on the new tensn over the Suts: The sole requirement church lears had at the time was that there be an exemptn the promise legislatn for the Boy Suts, so they uld ntue to not hire openly gay Tuday Mormons and longtime church observers were tryg to sort out what was gog on.

Jim Dabakis, an openly gay Utah senator who was volved that promise, said the church statement was “puzzlg” but that he spected was part of the overall flux a untry feelg the ph-pull of petg rights – those of tradnal relig believers and those of LGBT people.

”Mormon blogs om progrsive on to those closely affiliated wh the church showed a range of views, om church members appldg the move eher bee they don’t like Boy Sut programmg or bee they oppose gay equaly, to those who were embarrassed by the church’s statement bee seemed nmng of gays. When the Suts weled openly gay youth 2013, the Mormon Church ma clear that s teachgs ll all youth to chasty and that gay youth are wele along wh straight youth. Rsell Moore, print of the Southern Baptist Conventn’s public policy arm, said Southern Baptist church have been “olg” toward the Boy Suts recent years due to their openg on gay issu.

MORMON MOM: CHURCH'S REFAL TO ACCEPT GAY BOY SUT LEARS IS 'TRAGEDY'

Earlier this year, the BSA end s ban on openly gay and bisexual men, and The Mormon Church reacted immediately sayg, “the century-long associatn wh Sutg will need to be examed. The Mormon church is nsirg pullg out of s 102-year-old relatnship wh the Boy Suts after the Boy Suts changed s policy on allowg gay lears the anizatn.

The vote by the Boy Suts of Ameri to lift s ban on openly gay troop lears last week was a blow to some relig nservative anizatns that have long been nnected to sutg, pecially the Mormon church, which has ep roots the Boy Suts. On why the church might spl wh the Boy Suts The BSA statement allows for lears who are openly gay, and what that means practice is, I don't thk, exactly clear, but I thk uld very well nflict wh the church's own policy, which is you n intify as gay and be an active, fahful member of the Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats.

In a statement, the church has announced that is re-evaluatg s lks wh the Boy Suts Ameri program, after the natnal anizatn’s executive board voted on Monday to adm openly gay Sut church reprentativ said that they were “eply troubled” by Monday’s cisn.

BOY SUTS END BAN ON GAY LEARS, OVER PROTTS BY MORMON CHURCH

However, the admissn of openly gay lears is nsistent wh the doctr of the Church and what have tradnally been the valu of the Boy Suts of Ameri, ” the church said s 45-12 vote, the rult of years of trospectn wh the anizatn, prompted many gay Eagle Suts to sign up for volunteer posns. " “There are hundreds of gay kids out there who would be amazg sut lears, and every b as able and wonrful as straight sut kids. This is a tragedy that didn’t need to be, ” she and Jordan Montgomery MontgomeryThe LDS church oppos gay marriage and believ actg on same-sex attractns is a s.

But recent years, has tried to fd a balance between holdg on to official church doctre and softeng s approach towards LGBT church was supportive 2013 when the Boy Suts’ executive board voted to lift the ban on gay youth. The announcement did not say how many board members were not policy change, which was expected, was wily seen as a watershed for an stutn that has faced growg turmoil over s stance toward gay people, even as stggl to halt a long-term cle members.

LDS CHURCH PLEASED WH BSA PROMISE ON GAY SUTS

That approach satisfied no one, forcg the ejectn of gay Eagle Suts when they turned 18 but still g some nservativ to Gat gave an urgent warng May that bee of sdg social and legal chang, the anizatn had no choice but to end s ban on gay lears.

“However, the admissn of openly gay lears is nsistent wh the doctr of the church and what have tradnally been the valu of the Boy Suts of Ameri. A rrectn was ma onJuly 27, 2015: An earlier versn of this article referred rrectly to the Mormon church’s view of a new Boy Suts policy on gay adult lears.