The Boy Suts of Ameri will get no reprieve om ntroversy after a ntent vote to accept openly gay boys as Suts. Dismayed nservativ are already lookg at alternative youth groups as they predict a mass exod om the BSA. Gay-rights supporters vowed Friday to mata prsure on the Suts to end the still--place ban on gay adults servg as lears. "They're not on our good list yet," said Pl Guequierre of the Human Rights Campaign, a natnal gay-rights group. He said the HRC, s annual rankgs of rporate polici on workplace fairns, would duct pots om pani that donate to the Boy Suts until the ban on gay adults is lifted. 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. The Boy Suts' chief executive, Wayne Brock, plead for the Sutg muny to rne after the divisive bate that led to Thursday's vote by the BSA's Natnal Council. The proposal to lift the ban on openly gay youth — while keepg the ban on gay adults — was supported by about 60 percent of the uncil's 1,400 votg members. However, Brock's plea failed to sway some nservative relig lears whose nomatns sponsor many Sut uns and who nsir same-sex relatnships immoral. "Frankly, I n't image a Southern Baptist pastor who would ntue to allow his church to sponsor a Boy Sut troop unr the new l," Richard Land, a senr Southern Baptist Conference official, told the SBC's news agency, Baptist Prs. Land advised Southern Baptist church to whdraw their support of Sut troops and nsir affiliatg stead wh the Royal Ambassadors, an existg SBC youth program for boys that b relig mistry wh Sutg-style activi. Baptist church sponsor Sut uns servg more than 100,000 of the BSA's 2.6 ln youth members. The Assembli of God, which overse uns servg more than 2,000 Suts, said uld no longer support such uns and suggted s own Royal Rangers youth group as a "posive alternative." John Stemberger, a nservative activist and former Sut om Florida who led a group opposg the policy change, said he and his alli would nvene a meetg next month Louisville, Ky., to discs creatn of a "new character velopment anizatn for boys." "We grieve today, not bee we are faced wh leavg Sutg, but bee the Boy Suts of Ameri has left ," Stemberger said. "Its learship has turned s back on 103 years of abidg by a missn to prepare young people to make ethil and moral choic." There is a template for formg a nservative alternative to a major natnal youth anizatn. Amerin Herage Girls was formed 1995 as a Christian-oriented optn to the Girl Suts of the USA, and now claims more than 20,000 members. 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 lears. Whe Hoe spokman Sh Inouye said Obama "ntu to believe that learship posns the Suts should be open to all, regardls of sexual orientatn." 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 lifted. He 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. "Those nversatns will be difficult and shouldn't be had." Eagle Sut Zach Wahls, a 21-year-old activist raised by lbian mothers Iowa, has been a lear of the mpaign to end the BSA's no-gays policy. He said his group, Suts for Equaly, would ntue to prs for liftg the ban on gay adults, while also monorg how the BSA implements s new policy for gay youth. "We'll act as a watchdog," he said. "If any gay youth feel they're experiencg harassment or discrimatn, we want to be there for them." 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 nfed. W 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. "To be hont, I'm torn at this pot," Comer said Friday an email. "I'm not sure exactly what our cisn will be." "If I place this suatn the ntext of my relig beliefs, I'm forced to ask myself, 'Would I turn a homosexual child away om Sunday school? From a church functn? Would I forbid my children to be iends wh a gay child?' I n't image a suatn where I would answer 'y' to any of those qutns. So how n I this one?" he wrote. Yet he said was "extremely disappoted" the entire bate, and suggted that the BSA "has alt self a mortal blow." Another Sutg father, Don Mack, of Wania, Mn., said he and his 10-year-old son will be leavg Cub Suts after the current year is done and his son gets his Arrow of Light Award. Mack, a Sut himself as a boy and a self-scribed nservative Christian, has been a Cub Sut lear for about five years. Now, bee of the vote to adm gay youth, he and his son both want out. And they'll be lookg for an alternative program that offers siar character-buildg benefs as the Suts. "We home-school, and my wife and I teach our son you need to stand up for what's right, even if that means sacrifice or gettg hurt the procs," Mack said. "It was not an easy choice for to make bee our fay believed the missn Sutg has to offer. I kd of feel like my bt iend died." ___ Associated Prs wrer Steve Karnowski Mneapolis ntributed to this report. ___ Onle: Boy Suts of Ameri: ___ Follow David Crary on Twter at .
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
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 policy change would take effect Jan. 1, 2014. * boy scouts of america gay vote *
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? 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.
BOY SUTS VOTE TO ADM OPENLY GAY MEMBERS
GRAPEVINE, 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. The f * boy scouts of america gay vote *
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 ...
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.
BOY SUTS VOTE TO LIFT BAN ON GAY YOUTH
The Boy Suts of Ameri has cid to allow openly gay Suts to jo the anizatn but not gay Sut lears. Sixty-one percent of the Natnal Council members who st ballots supported the ntroversial proposal. * boy scouts of america gay vote *
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
Some gay rights advot ll the move a step forward, but others say the 103-year-old anizatn has sent the wrong msage to youth if ni membership to gay lears. * boy scouts of america gay vote *
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.
BOY SUTS VOTE TO END BAN ON GAY SUTS; GAY ADULTS STILL BARRED
Members of the Boy Suts of Ameri voted on Thursday to allow gay members. * boy scouts of america gay vote *
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 ALLOW GAY MEMBERS, BUT NOT LEARS
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 equa * boy scouts of america gay vote *
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.
BOY SUTS VOTE TO END BAN ON GAY LEARS
<b>BREAKING: Boy Suts of Ameri will end a ban on openly gay suts.</b> Gay adults are still not permted to serve as sut lears. * boy scouts of america gay vote *
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.
"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.
BOY SUTS VOTE TO LET GAY KIDS, BUT NOT GAY ADULTS
For the first time s history the Boy Suts of Ameri has lifted s ban on gay members. * boy scouts of america gay vote *
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. 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.
BOY SUTS VOTE TO ALLOW GAY TROOPS
* boy scouts of america gay vote *
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.
BOY SUTS VOTE TO ALLOW GAY MEMBERS
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. ”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.
AFTER VOTE ON GAY YOUTH, SUTS FACE MORE TURMOIL
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. "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.
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. ”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.
BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO END CENTURY-OLD BAN ON GAY SUTS
“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.