Boy Suts Vote to End Ban on Gay Lears - WSJ

Contents:

• BOY SUTS OF AMERI ENDS BAN ON GAY ADULT LEARS
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO ALLOW GAY SUT LEARS
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO END BAN ON GAY LEARS
• SUTS VOTE TO ACCEPT GAY BOYS; BAN ON GAY LEARS REMAS
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO ADM OPENLY GAY MEMBERS
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO ALLOW GAY MEMBERS, BUT NOT LEARS
• AFTER VOTE ALLOWG GAY KIDS TO BEE BOY SUTS, SOME FAI LL QUS
• MORMON CHURCH TO 'RE-EVALUATE' RELATNSHIP AFTER BOY SUTS END GAY BAN
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI APPROV GAY LEARS VOTE
• BOY SUT LEARS PUT OFF VOTE ON GAY MEMBERSHIP
• THE BOY SUTS ARE VOTG ON GAY LEARS—HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP
• WHY MORMONS ARE SO VASTATED BY THE BOY SUT VOTE ON GAY LEARS
• ON EVE OF VOTE, BOY SUTS ARE DIVID OVER ACCEPTG GAY YOUTHS
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO LIFT BAN ON GAY YOUTH
• BOY SUTS PRINT’S LL TO END GAY LEAR BAN DRAWS MIXED REACTN
• BOY SUTS VOTE ON GAY MEMBERS: WHAT'S AT STAKE
• BOY SUTS TO ALLOW GAY YOUTHS TO JO
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO ALLOW OPENLY GAY YOUTHS, MATA BAN ON GAY ADULTS

BOY SUTS OF AMERI ENDS BAN ON GAY ADULT LEARS

NEW YORK -- The Boy Suts of Ameri on Monday end s blanket ban on gay adult lears while allowg church-sponsored Sut uns to mata the excln for relig new policy, aimed at easg a ntroversy that has embroiled the Boy Suts for years, tak effect immediately. Several nomatns that llectively sponsor close to half of all Sut uns -- cludg the Roman Catholic church, the Mormon church and the Southern Baptist Conventn -- have been apprehensive about endg the ban on gay BSA's top lears have pledged to fend the right of any church-sponsored uns to ntue excludg gays as adult volunteers.

BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO ALLOW GAY SUT LEARS

-If otherwise qualified, a gay adult would be eligible to serve as a Sutmaster or un, who beme the BSA's print May 2014, said at the time that he personally would have favored endg the ban on gay adults, but he opposed any further bate after the Suts' policymakg body upheld the ban. Sce then, the exclnary policy has prompted numero major rporatns to spend charable donatns to the Suts, and has straed relatns wh some municipali that ver gays their non-discrimatn Upton, a lawyer for the LGBT-rights group Lambda Legal, qutned whether the BSA's new policy to let church-sponsored uns ntue to exclu gay adults would be staable. " 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.

BOY SUTS VOTE TO END BAN ON GAY LEARS

"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. "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.

"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 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. Those clu liberal church opposed to any ban on gays, but some of the largt sponsors are relatively nservative nomatns that have prevly supported the broad ban -- notably the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats and Southern Baptist church.

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. The father of a Cub Sut sat his son on his lap late last week and told him news that tore up both their hearts: The fay was leavg the Boy Butler, the lear of his 8-year-old son Evan’s Cub Sut Wolf n Rose, Mn., said he didn't expla to his elst son exactly why they were walkg away om an anizatn they loved so much, but he told NBC News that was bee of last week's ntroversial cisn by the Boy Suts of Ameri to allow gay youth to participate.

SUTS VOTE TO ACCEPT GAY BOYS; BAN ON GAY LEARS REMAS

He said he was gog to look to an alternative fah-based group beg put together by On My Honor — an anizatn started by a Florida dad and Sut volunteer, and posed of fai and outsi groups that oppose allowg gay youths and adults the Boy Suts.

As for adult lears and volunteers, Boy Suts officials last week said there would be no change to the adult membership policy, which exclus means that after a boy turns 18, he would graduate om the Boy Suts and have to apply to bee an adult lear – when the membership policy barrg gays would rights activists pledged to ntue their mpaign to clu adults even as they appld the vote. Related StoriPhilalphia Boy Suts uncil allows openly gay learsNew York Boy Suts fy natnal group wh gay adult as mp learBoy Suts print says ban on gay lears needs to endThe cisn durg a changg ti public opn ncerng gay rights, marked by a recent U.

BOY SUTS VOTE TO ADM OPENLY GAY MEMBERS

“What happens when we go mpg and there’s uns that allow gays and homosexuals and there’s uns that don’t, how are we gog to keep them separated om those uns and how are we gog to still our kids Christian valu and the biblil tth if that’s allowed our program? Compared to siar trag and experienc offered by the tn system and muny anizatns like church, Suts offers kids a more pellg, more challengg, more diverse, religly agnostic experience that, at least my life, proved more valuable than a llege Suts Don’t Allow Gay LearsAs an herently nservative anizatn, the BSA has tracked wir public opn on homosexualy. Then, 1991, the BSA released a posn statement on the matter, sayg: “We believe that homosexual nduct is nsistent wh the requirement the Sut Oath that a Sut be morally straight and the Sut Law that a Sut be clean word and ed, and that homosexuals do not provi a sirable role mol for Suts.

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. 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.

BOY SUTS VOTE TO ALLOW GAY MEMBERS, BUT NOT LEARS

— Boy Sut lears om around the untry, engulfed a culture war over homosexualy, gathered for a vote here Thursday on a landmark proposal that would perm openly gay youths — but not openly gay adult lears — to participate a secret ballot, more than 1, 400 volunteer lears om sutg’s 270 uncils will accept or reject a proposal that has led to strint divisns and emotns were evint Wednday outsi the nference center here a suburb of Dallas, where dozens of nservative Christians, many sut uniforms, rried “no” signs and waved Amerin flags. “We’re tryg to uphold tradnal valu, ” said Bill Lizz, 58, a sut lear who had driven om Tennsee to register his parents threatened to pull their sons out of sutg, sayg they would never let them share a tent wh a gay boy. Mythologized by Norman Rockwell and a formative experience for no fewer than 181 NASA astronts, the Boy Suts have for more than a century been a symbol of an upright over the last year, the growg public acceptance of homosexualy has llid wh the social nservatism of many Boy Sut lears and parents, as well as the church that sponsor a majory of Cub Sut packs and Boy Sut troops.

AFTER VOTE ALLOWG GAY KIDS TO BEE BOY SUTS, SOME FAI LL QUS

The longstandg policy of barrg openly gay members — the Suts’ versn of “don’t ask, don’t tell” — has been sharply challenged om outsi the anizatn and om publicly waverg, which only fueled the divisns, Boy Sut executiv nducted exhstive rearch this sprg on member attus.

Last week the Connecticut Yankee Council promised would fy natnal policy eher se, sayg tend to accept gay lears and would be “open to all youths and adults who subscribe to the valu of the Sut Oath and Law regardls of their personal sexual orientatn. Prospects for passage improved when the Mormon Church, the largt sgle sponsor of sut uns, dited support for limed change, and the Roman Catholic Church, another major sponsor, also said that would not abandon sutg so long as any new policy applied to youths and not, formerly known as the Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn, and other rights groups as well as ternal advot said that allowg openly gay youths would be a step the right directn, but only that.

MORMON CHURCH TO 'RE-EVALUATE' RELATNSHIP AFTER BOY SUTS END GAY BAN

”Those on both sis predict that once gay suts are allowed, the Suts will soon be forced to allow gay lears, too, whether by lawsus or the simple lack of logic forcg a gay Eagle Sut to qu the day he turns Cub Suts, Boy Suts, Venture Suts and other branch clu more than 2. The issue epted wh force last year after a lbian Oh, Jennifer Tyrrell, was oted as lear of her 7-year-old son’s Tiger Cubs and other rights groups took up the e, enlistg celebri like Madonna, who wore a Boy Sut uniform to an awards ceremony, and publicizg lls for change by rporate executiv whose pani embrace gay and lbian two ln people signed onle petns on, llg on the Boy Suts to end the last few months, as the suts surveyed youths and adults and met wh sponsorg relig and civic groups, they found divisns by regn and age.

Councils the Northeast endorsed openg the Suts to gay lears as well as youths, argug that a failure to do so would accelerate a “ath spiral” for sutg, further alienatg younger parents who are “the lifeblood of the anizatn.

BOY SUTS OF AMERI APPROV GAY LEARS VOTE

Curry for The New York TimBut majori the Midwt, South and Wt, except for parts of California, were agast changg policy and were pecially hostile to allowg openly gay nservative foms, some people have warned that allowg gay suts and lears would lead to more s of sex abe.

The Boy Suts, who have alt wh revelatns of abe by Sut lears gog back s, dismissed that ncern their rmatn package for legat, cg expert opn and studi showg that gay men are no more likely than others to m sex their public statements, the Boy Suts have not clearly explaed why they proposed relaxg the policy for youths but not for adults.

BOY SUT LEARS PUT OFF VOTE ON GAY MEMBERSHIP

Sut officials who spoke on ndn of anonymy nclud that a proposal to allow gay lears would have no chance of passg and uld drive away large numbers of sponsors and nservative liberal parents and suts, however, said they uld be driven away if the proposal fails to pass on Sullivan, 15, a nth grar om Gillette, Wyo., who is workg on his Eagle badge a Mormon troop, said he was shocked to learn this year that gay suts were prohibed. 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.

THE BOY SUTS ARE VOTG ON GAY LEARS—HERE'S HOW YOU CAN HELP

“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.

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

“It’s one of those thgs I was hopg I wouldn’t have to thk about for years to e, ” said David Barton, an Orange County Cubmaster, assistant Sutmaster, Eagle Sut and the father of two boys , 50, says he do not thk ’s fair to allow gay boys to Sutg and then exclu them when they bee adults. ”Gat’ remarks e two years after a public battle over gays Sutg that end wh a vote durg the Boy Suts’ natnal meetg to allow gay Suts but not gay ago, the Boy Suts had created a youth protectn program to prevent abe by lears that was rivalg that many other youth groups and sports teams, said Jay Mechlg, profsor emer of Amerin studi at UC Davis and thor of “On My Honor: Boy Suts and the Makg of Amerin Youth. ”“When they changed the policy for mors, everyone knew that this uldn’t last very long, bee you were evably gog to have a kid turn 18 and he still wants to be active and now all of a sudn he n’t be a volunteer lear, ” Mechlg year, Gat beme print of the Boy Suts, and although he said he would have preferred the full cln of gays, he accepted the 2013 vote and said he wouldn’t reopen the issue durg his two-year this year, nservative lawmakers Indiana drew cricism and boytts after passg legislatn allowg bs owners to ny service to gay said on Thursday that the stat quo was no longer ced the Indiana protts as a sign that the untry’s attu toward gays is quickly changg.

ON EVE OF VOTE, BOY SUTS ARE DIVID OVER ACCEPTG GAY YOUTHS

We n act on our own or we n be forced to act, but eher way I spect we don’t have a lot of time, ” he said Sut officials and lawyers would velop a strategy to al wh gay learship g emphasized that dividual troops and uncils would be able to ci for themselv whether to allow gay lears. But the largt relig sponsor, the Mormon Church, changed s posn to support cludg gay youth Sutg before the vote two years Thursday, Mormon officials released a statement sayg they would nsir Gat’ remendatns and how they would affect the church’s century-long associatn wh the Boy Suts. We fought the good fight and anizatns take time to change, ” said Snyr, whose uncil has a nondiscrimatn policy and already accepts gay Menzer, an Eagle Sut and longtime troop lear who was Sutg for more than 50 years when he qu 1999 to prott what he nsired discrimatory practic, said he was “tickled” by Gat’, who heads the San Diego advocy group Sutg for All, said he’d wrten to Gat jt a week ago, urgg him to let sponsorg anizatns ci who should lead troops.

”Among gay lears who may be able to return soon is Brian, 35, an assistant Sutmaster and Eagle Sut om Wterville, Oh, was forced to leave Troop 192 last March after his work wh Suts for Equaly drew the attentn of natnal Sut lears.

BOY SUTS VOTE TO LIFT BAN ON GAY YOUTH

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.

BOY SUTS PRINT’S LL TO END GAY LEAR BAN DRAWS MIXED REACTN

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. 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 ON GAY MEMBERS: WHAT'S AT STAKE

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. “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. The Boy Suts of Ameri on Thursday end s ban on openly gay youths but mataed a prohibn on gay adult lears, a cisn amed as a promise but one that uld lead to ligatn and thoands of fectns om one of Ameri’s largt youth immediate impact of the policy change, endorsed by more than 60 percent of the anizatn’s 1, 400 votg members, is likely to vary officials on Thursday night said the church would stay volved wh Sutg "based on our mutual tert helpg boys and young men unrstand and live their duty to God and velop upright moral behavr.

BOY SUTS TO ALLOW GAY YOUTHS TO JO

William Byrne, secretary for pastoral mistry of the Archdce of Washgton, said the new policy is not nflict wh Catholic vote of the century-old group symboliz jt how quickly many Amerins' views on homosexualy are changg. ”A Febary Boy Sut poll showed ep divisns, wh a majory of teen Suts opposg both bans and 61 percent of all members supportg rights groups have poured rourc to the measure’s passage, which they lled “historic” when viewed as an important step toward eventually removg the ban agast gay adult lears. For this reason, gay proponents said they are willg to overlook temporarily the obv awkwardns of the arrangement: Youths who are gay n be out, but the day they turn 18 they n no longer serve an anizatn which ’s mon for people who were Boy Suts to rema active as adult, a 19-year-old gay Wisns Eagle Sut and sutmaster who didn’t want his last name ed to protect his privacy, was a room full of gay advot Texas when the vote was announced.

BOY SUTS VOTE TO ALLOW OPENLY GAY YOUTHS, MATA BAN ON GAY ADULTS

7 ln youth members the same toxic msage: beg gay means you nnot fully participate the Sutg experience bee there is somethg trsilly wrong wh who you are, " Jam Dale, whose expulsn as a sutmaster 1990 led to the Supreme Court se, wrote this week The Washgton before the vote showed that large swaths of Sutg fai, particularly the South and the Midwt, wanted to keep the total ban.