Boy Suts vote to let gay kids, but not gay adults

Contents:

• BOY SUTS VOTE ON GAY MEMBERS: WHAT'S AT STAKE
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO ADM OPENLY GAY MEMBERS
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO LIFT BAN ON GAY YOUTH
• BOY SUTS 'MOVG FORWARD,' VOTE TO ALLOW GAY MEMBERS
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO END BAN ON GAY SUTS; GAY ADULTS STILL BARRED
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO ALLOW GAY MEMBERS, BUT NOT LEARS
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO END BAN ON GAY LEARS
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO LET GAY KIDS, BUT NOT GAY ADULTS
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO ALLOW GAY TROOPS
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO ALLOW GAY MEMBERS
• AFTER VOTE ON GAY YOUTH, SUTS FACE MORE TURMOIL
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO END CENTURY-OLD BAN ON GAY SUTS

BOY SUTS VOTE ON GAY MEMBERS: WHAT'S AT STAKE

After years of emotnal bate, the Boy Suts of Ameri are nsirg a proposal at their annual meetg to allow gay youths to participate openly  the popular anizatn for the first excln of gay Suts has been the subject of much wranglg and soul searchg the century-old anizatn -- om lol troops and uncils to onle petns to natnal board meetgs. BSA lears won’t say exactly why now, but more than a after the Supreme Court said the anizatn was on solid legal ground excludg gays, the bate que simply won’t go away. Meanwhile issu related to gay rights -- such as gay marriage and adoptn -- are gag wir public acceptance, and lobbyg mpaigns by Jennifer Tyrrell, a lbian who was oted om her role as n mother last year, and Zach Wahls, an Eagle Sut who was raised by two lbian mothers, kept the bate the public eye.

Perhaps one of the most important voic, BSA Print Wayne Perry on Wednday wrote an op-ed USA TODAY supportg the cln of gay the proposal, what would happen to an Eagle Sut who is gay and wants to volunteer as an adult? That is the big cricism of this policy more progrsive quarters: That life-long, succsful suts sentially will be banned om the anizatn on their 18th birthday bee they are gay.

Conservativ also note the tensn herent the policy, sayg uld be a slippery slope: They believe allowg gay youths would unrme the legal unrpngs of the Supreme Court cisn, ultimately leadg to gay adult volunteers beg admted to the dividual lol troops be allowed to exclu gay youths if they have moral objectns? ” This has led some parents and Sut lears who object to homosexualy to nsir alternativ to Sutg, for fear that the rolutn might gays are allowed, will parents be able to object, for example, to their son sharg a tent wh a gay Sut?

BOY SUTS VOTE TO ADM OPENLY GAY MEMBERS

And more liberal Sut lears will lobby to have gay adults clud as well -- an issue that is not gog to fa anytime you are a current or former member of the Boy Suts and would like to share your thoughts on how your troop, pack or uncil is handlg the possibily of a change the membership policy, you n email the reporter at We may e some ments for a follow-up story, so please specify if your remarks n be ed and provi your name, hometown, age, Boy Sut affiliatn and a phone number. Related:Suts awa cisn on gay membershipBoy Suts nsir endg ban on gay members, learsSuts propose allowg gay suts, but banng learsMormon church OK wh endg Suts' ban on gay youthMiranda Lesger and Jason Whe, NBC News.

The erng body of the Boy Suts of Ameri voted Monday to end s s-long ban on gay sut lears.The 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 board.While 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 beliefs.The 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."This change allows Sutg's members and parents to select lol uns, chartered by anizatns wh siar beliefs, that bt meet the needs of their fai," said a statement om the Suts' learship."For far too long this issue has divid and distracted ," former Defense Secretary Robert Gat, Sutg's current print, said a statement. "Now 's time to une behd our shared belief the extraordary power of Sutg to be a force for good a muny and the liv of s youth members."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 lears.Sce then, sutg officials have said, rapidly movg legal velopments forced a reasssment.Gat told the anizatn May that mt brace for change."We mt al wh the world as is, not as we might wish to be.

The stat quo our movement's membership standards nnot be staed."Nearly half the stat now have laws prohibg discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn, and almost 150 lol ernments have adopted siar provisns.Gay adults rejected as sut lears have threatened to sue, and New York's attorney general opened an vtigatn of the employment policy at the Boy Suts of Ameri."It would be a losg effort," says an ternal Boy Suts of Ameri memo obtaed by NBC News, "for the BSA to ntue protectg s policy." The memo nclus that "a protracted legal battle ...

BOY SUTS VOTE TO LIFT BAN ON GAY YOUTH

Is unwnable."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 ntue.Peter 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."Roughly 70 percent of lol sutg uns are sponsored by relig anizatns.

That's fely the wrong msage for the Boy Suts of Ameri."Other rights anizatns also noted that Monday's move was perhaps only a half step."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.

Boy Suts Vote To Adm Openly Gay Members: The Two-Way The Natnal Council of the Boy Suts of Ameri has voted to allow gay Sut members, but to ntue a ban on openly gay adult Sut lears. The Boy Suts of Ameri has agreed for the first time to allow openly gay boys as members, but a vote of the anizatn's Natnal Council left place a ban on gay Sut lears.

BOY SUTS 'MOVG FORWARD,' VOTE TO ALLOW GAY MEMBERS

The group GLAAD praised the Suts' cisn: "Today's vote is a signifint victory for gay youth across the natn and a clear ditn that the Boy Suts' ban on gay adult lears will also evably end, " said GLAAD spokperson Rich Ferraro. "The Boy Suts of Ameri heard om relig lears, rporate sponsors and so many Sutg fai who want an end to discrimatn agast gay people, and GLAAD will ntue this work wh those mted to equaly Sutg until gay parents and adults are able to participate. Michael Prengler / RtersGRAPEVINE, Texas -- The Boy Suts of Ameri voted Thursday to end s ntroversial policy banng gay kids and teens om jog one of the natn's most popular youth anizatns, dchg membership guil that had roiled the group recent 61 percent of Sutg's Natnal Council of 1, 232 legat om across the untry voted to lift the ban, BSA officials said.

1, 2014, "allowg the Boy Suts of Ameri the transn time need to munite and implement this policy to s approximately 116, 000 Sutg uns, " the BSA said a the oute of the historic ballot is not gog to end the bate: Some opponents on the right said they would pull their sponsorships of packs and troops, and parents threatened to take their boys out of Sutg; LGBT activists said the policy change don't go far enough bee gay adults still wouldn't be allowed to mom Jennifer Tyrrell, who was oted April 2012 as n lear of her son's Tiger Cub pack bee she is a lbian, said was a step forward even though she wouldn't benef om the change. “Even though I thk that there will probably still be a few folks who choose to walk away … I thk this is the begng of the rebound of Sutg Ameri, ” he ban on gay Suts has been the subject of much soul-searchg the century-old anizatn – om lol troops and uncils to natnal board meetgs.

The dispute was even heard by the Supreme Court, which said 13 years ago that as a private membership anizatn, the BSA was ee to ci who would summer, the Boy Suts reaffirmed their anti-gay policy after a two-year examatn by a mtee. Web reacts to Suts liftg ban on gaysBoy Suts vote on gays: What's at stakeSuts propose allowg gay suts, but banng learsMormon church OK wh endg Suts' ban on gay youth.

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

Zach Wahls is an Eagle sut, the son of two gay moms, and founr of Suts for WAHLS: Well, I thk today is a classic story about, you know, a cultural stutn, the Boy Suts of Ameri, jog the rt of Uned Stat the 21st century unrstandg that we don't have anythg to be aaid of when to our LGBT iends, brothers and fellow The policy will bee effective January.

But 's jt that the gay agenda is tryg to force everythg to other people's liv, whether they like or not, and I don't thk that's Out wt, the ty town of Horshoe Bend, Idaho, Tyler Cazier was an Eagle Sut. He's Mormon, and although he says he don't believe gay marriage, he's glad the Boy Suts dropped their ban on openly gay CAZIER: As long as the Boy Suts of Ameri sticks to, you know, teachg boys how to build fir and, you know, thgs like servg other people and beg hont, then I have no problem wh a person's sexual orientatn wh the This issue has bterly divid the Sutg muny.

Gay rights activists say the cisn should have e years ago, and they vow to keep fightg to make sure the policy is implemented the more than 100, 000 Sutg uns across the untry. May 23, 2013 — -- The Boy Suts of Ameri today voted to lift s longtime natnal ban on admtg openly gay Suts but will ntue to exclu openly gay adults om learship vote by s 1, 400 natnal membership me as no surprise to gay rights advot, who hailed as a first step to endg discrimatory practic the 103-year-old Boy Suts said that had pleted s "most prehensive listeng exercise Sutg's history" on the issue and will change s policy Jan. Still, she applds what she nsirs a "temporary" Oh Cub Sut Lear Fired for Beg Gay"I am enuraged, bee we fely are for the long hl, " Tyrrell, a 33-year-old mother of four told "Once the ban is lifted on youth, they will see their fears are unfound.

BOY SUTS VOTE TO ALLOW GAY MEMBERS, BUT NOT LEARS

"She said she would ntue to fight for other gay fai who wanted to be part of the others, such as former former Eagle Sut Jam Dale, who brought the lawsu agast the Boy Suts that ma all the way to the Supreme Court 2000, said the partial liftg of the ban mak the anizatn "ls relevant. "But recent months, some church have backed away om their opposn, acrdg to the gay advocy group Mormon church, which sponsors most of the troops, has now endorsed allowg gay Suts. The Natnal Jewish Commtee on Sutg, the Epispal Church, the Uned Church of Christ, the Unarian Universalist Associatn and the Metropolan Communy Church all urged full repeal of the many other Christian groups stood firm prott, cg relig eedom and the prev Supreme Court 19, 000 past or current members of the Suts signed a petn om Alliance Defendg Freedom, which was livered to the Boy Suts this week, urgg to keep the Stemberger founr of, a group of former Suts, lears and parents who oppose liftg the ban, said the anizatn worried ls about sexual inty than gay activism.

Stemberger said his group's attempts to distribute buttons and 1, 000 pi of a newspaper ad the Dallas Morng News to legat were thwarted by the Boy Suts secury guards who asked them to leave the hotel group had hoped to unter Boy Suts of Ameri Print Wayne Perry's op-ed piece USA Today urgg the legat to allow gay youth to be part of Sutg.

At least a half dozen other stat are nsirg legislative Supreme Court is currently nsirg repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and a challenge to the California ban on same-sex marriage, known as Proposn 's evince the gay ban has hurt the anizatn.

BOY SUTS VOTE TO END BAN ON GAY LEARS

He has now worked for the anizatn for five said he and many other gay Suts "live wh apprehensn, hidg our personal liv and not knowg if we uld be outed and fired at any moment. We want every kid to have a place where they belong, to learn and grow and feel Today's historic vote is beg celebrated by gay rights advot as a hard-fought victory and cricized by opponents as a moral pulatn. The vote today to allow open and avowed homosexualy the Boy Suts will pletely transform to an unprcipled and risky proposn for And, you know, he said that he is gog to be actually leavg the Boy Suts.

So, I thk the movement is gog to be to not have the adults who are openly gay be kicked out of sutg if they say they are You're talkg about adults who are sut lears who are openly Right. And that is bee at age 18, people the Boy Suts would transn to adult posns and to associate-lear type posns, but right now they're not allowed to do that if they say they are gay.

The new policy tak effect immediately after was approved a 45-12 vote on natnal executive board of the Boy Suts of Ameri voted Monday to end a ban on gay adult lears, clearg the way for gay men and lbians to serve as volunteers, unselors, and other learship rol wh the 105-year-old anizatn. The Boy Suts of Ameri on Thursday voted to lift s ban on openly gay children, what LGBT advot hope will be the first step toward brgg full equaly to one of the natn’s olst and most proment learship 1, 400 votg members of BSA’s natnal uncil nvened Grapeve, Texas, for their two-day annual meetg to, among other thgs, vote on a proposal that ends the Boy Suts’ policy of discrimatn agast gay youths. The new policy, which passed wh more than 60% of the vote, still exclus openly gay adults om LGBT advot plan to ntue their ph for the BSA to wele everyone, regardls of age and sexual orientatn, those on the ontl of the bate still see the cln of gay kids as an important achievement.

BOY SUTS VOTE TO LET GAY KIDS, BUT NOT GAY ADULTS

”GLAAD has been a lear the natnal mpaign to end the BSA’s ban on gay suts and lears sce April 2012, when Jennifer Tyrell was oted as her seven-year-old son’s n lear for beg a lbian. “There was a lot of skepticism before Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell [the ary’s ban on openly gay service members] was repealed about the safety of ary personnel, ” said Ferraro. "Many opponents were ncerned that allowg openly gay children to the Boy Suts would alienate the group's nservative partners, 70% of which are relig anizatns, acrdg to Perry.

The Natnal Catholic Commtee on Sutg, which sponsors the send hight number of troops, neher endorsed nor opposed the a statement after Thursday’s vote, the Greater New York Councils said that s members were “pleased” wh the BSA’s cisn to allow openly gay children, but “extremely disappoted that the rolutn did not clu gay adult volunteers. ”“We will ntue to work toward a fully clive natnal policy aligned wh our own, ” read the is unclear exactly how the new policy will work, nsirg the ban on gay adults would h sut members at 18, jt as they’re gog through the procs of earng their Eagle Sut badg. Boy Suts of Ameri voted Thursday to allow openly gay membersThe meetg Grapeve%2C Texas%2C was been a mag for both pro- and anti-gay groupsThere are more than 100%2C000 Sut troops the Uned Stat wh 2.

BOY SUTS VOTE TO ALLOW GAY TROOPS

"It brgs the Boy Suts back to the Amerin mastream, " said Beth Gazley, a profsor at Indiana Universy Bloomgton who studi vote overturns a 22-year-old ban on openly gay suts.

In a statement posted on s webse April, the Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats stated that appreciated the "posive thgs ntaed this current proposal [to allow gay Suts] that will help build and strengthen the moral character and learship skills of youth as we work together the future.

BOY SUTS VOTE TO ALLOW GAY MEMBERS

A Washgton Post-ABC News poll released May 9 found that 63% of Amerins support allowg gay Suts to jo and 56% believe openly gay adults should be allowed to serve as Sut lears. In California, gay-rights lears said they would ntue urgg passage of a bill pendg the Legislature that would make the BSA eligible for nonprof tax breaks bee of the remag ban.

From the left, gay-rights supporters — cludg Print Barack Obama — generally weled the move to accept openly gay Suts, but urged the BSA to take the further step of welg gay adults as Hoe spokman Sh Inouye said Obama “ntu to believe that learship posns the Suts should be open to all, regardls of sexual orientatn.

AFTER VOTE ON GAY YOUTH, SUTS FACE MORE TURMOIL

”Rich Ferraro of GLAAD, formerly known as the Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn, said his group would ntue a mpaign to disurage rporate givg to the Boy Suts until the ban on gay adults is also predicted that the prence of openly gay boys Sut ranks would unrme the viabily of the adult ban as those youth turn 18 and seek learship posts.

“The BSA now will have to look gay teens the eye, boys who’ve been volved Sutg for years, and tell them they’re not gog to be able to grow to adult lears, ” Ferraro said. ”For some parents of Suts, the entire membership bate has been emotnally drag, and the cisn to accept openly gay youth left them disenchanted or Comer, whose fay attends an Apostolic Pentestal church near Knoxville, Tenn., that nsirs homosexualy sful, had been wrtlg wh whether to pull his elst son out of the Suts if the no-gays policy was abandoned.

" As Ameri ntued s exorable march toward legal equaly for gays, the Suts' stubborn ristance to change provid a source of spiratn for Christian, nservative activists. This week the Boy Suts of Ameri announced that was reversg s 2012 junctn, issug a new le that would centralize cisns on gay membership: no natnal policy will be promulgated, the group said, but lol chapters uld tablish their own standards acceptg or forbiddg homosexual abpt policy shift was greeted wh two cheers om gay-rights activists, who have long challenged the Sut policy of discrimatn (takg their fight all the way to the Supreme Court—and losg— 2000). When searchg for opponents to gay-rights measur, reporters n reliably ll upon the Fay Rearch Council, whose fatigable antigay lear Tony Perks quickly lamented their pulatn to "bullyg...

BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO END CENTURY-OLD BAN ON GAY SUTS

GRAPEVINE, Texas (Rters) - The Boy Suts of Ameri voted on Thursday to lift a century-old ban on openly gay suts a major victory for gay rights activists, but the cisn means a sea of change for an anizatn that pends heavily on fah-based than 60 percent of the group’s Natnal Council, prised of some 1, 400 legat, voted favor of endg the ban, effective January 1, 2014, the group said a statement. A prohibn on openly gay adult lears remas cisn followed weeks of tense lobbyg by gay rights activists and members of nservative anizatns, many of them church groups that have tradnally formed the backbone of one of the natn’s largt youth anizatns.

”The Boy Suts’ long-standg ban on gay suts had bee a polarizg issue at the center of the bate on gay rights the Uned Stat, where gay soldiers may now serve openly the ary and where gay upl n wed a number of months, the Boy Suts have been ught between two sis an emotnally charged bate that has seen both supporters and opponents of liftg the ban threaten to whdraw Boy Suts has faced heavy prsure on one si om gay rights supporters and some of the major rporate sponsors who provi much of the group’s annual fundg, and on the other by a variety of major natnal church groups, who sponsor and support the large majory of troops natnwi. The Catholic church, which sponsors about 8, 400 troops, has taken no official posn on the natnal polls show a growg acceptance of gay rights, an onle survey of about 200, 000 Boy Suts members, parents and lears dited strong support for matag the ban, by a marg of almost the Boy Suts’ top learship endorsed the change and enuraged legat to support . 8 ln signatur support of endg the ban while opponents llected about 250, 000 signatur urgg legat to vote down the Corp, one of the largt rporate sponsors of the Boy Suts, said last September would stop supportg troops that ntue to ban gay suts.

Intel donated about $700, 000 2009, acrdg to the Amerin Inpennt announcement followed prsure om gay groups that lnched a natnwi mpaign on urgg Intel to whdraw s support. Uned Parcel Service Inc, another major sponsor, followed su November, as did Merck & Co, acrdg to the gay rights group of the natn’s largt gay rights groups cheered the move to end the gay sut ban, and predicted the anizatn’s ban on openly gay adult lears would soon end as well.