Boy Suts farg well a year after easg ban on gay adults | AP News

Contents:

• BOY SUTS TO REPEAL BAN ON GAY LEARS, WH LIMATNS
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI ENDS BAN ON GAY ADULT LEARS
• BOY SUTS LOST 2 LN MEMBERS SCE LIFTG BAN ON GAY YOUTH; NOW MIRED SEX ABE CLAIMS
• WHAT DROPPG THE BAN ON GAY LEARS MEANS FOR THE BOY SUTS
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO ALLOW GAY SUT LEARS
• GAY BOY SUTS? WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR BOYS?
• BOY SUTS FARG WELL A YEAR AFTER EASG BAN ON GAY ADULTS
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO END BAN ON GAY ADULTS
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI DELAYS DECISN ON MEMBERSHIP POLICY BANNG GAYS
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI LIFTS BAN ON GAY LEARS
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO END NTROVERSIAL BAN ON OPENLY-GAY SUT LEARS
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO LIFT BAN ON GAY YOUTH
• BOY SUTS VOTE TO END BAN ON GAY SUTS; GAY ADULTS STILL BARRED

BOY SUTS TO REPEAL BAN ON GAY LEARS, WH LIMATNS

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. 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.

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.

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. The stage had been set for Monday's actn on May 21, when Gat told the Suts' natnal meetg that the long-standg ban on participatn by openly gay adults was no longer staable. 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.

-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. He ced an announcement by the BSA's New York Cy chapter early April that had hired Pasl Tsier, the natn's first openly gay Eagle Sut, as a summer mp lear. 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.

4 ln boys and about 1 ln the 2013 cisn to adm gay youth, some nservativ spl om the BSA to form a new group, Trail Life USA, which has created s own ranks, badg and uniforms.

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

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. 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 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. "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 Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms homosexualy, the clatn of beg sexually attracted to the same sex, is herently disorred (CCC 2357).

WHAT DROPPG THE BAN ON GAY LEARS MEANS FOR THE BOY SUTS

NEW YORK (AP) — There were dire warngs for the Boy Suts of Ameri a year ago when the group’s lears, unr tense prsure, voted to end a long-standg blanket ban on participatn by openly gay adults. Youth membership is on the verge of stabilizg after a prolonged cle, rporatns which halted donatns bee of the ban have rumed their support, and the vast majory of uns affiliated wh nservative relig nomatns have remaed the fold — still ee to exclu gay adults if that’s acrdance wh their relig doctre. Catholic Bishop Robert Guglielmone of Charlton, South Carola, whose duti clu liaisg wh the Natnal Catholic Commtee on Sutg, says he knows of no stanc where a Catholic un — there are more than 7, 500 — has taken on an openly gay adult lear sce the policy change.

S., were unhappy wh the BSA’s easg of the ban on gay adults, but did not ll on dividual church to disaffiliate wh troops that they sponsored.

Another lear pleased wh the velopments is Richard Mason, print of the BSA’s Greater New York Councils, which serv nearly 50, 000 youths the New York Cy April 2015, the NY Councils played a key role the BSA policy change, fyg the ban by announcg the hirg of an 18-year-old gay Eagle Sut to work at one of s summer mps.

BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO ALLOW GAY SUT LEARS

Some rporatns and liberal relig groups that cut ti wh the Suts bee of the ban have rtored them, he said, while the Catholic archdce — ially wary of the change — has remaed fully active wh chang BSA policy toward gay youths and adult lears were “handled as profsnally as I have seen any ntent issue handled durg my reer, ” said Mason, a lawyer experienced wh plex bankptcy last year, the Boy Suts had explicly adhered to a ban on gay adults for more than three s, even takg a se all the way to the U. The 2012 oter of a lbian servg as a Cub Sut n mother Oh sparked a natnal petn mpaign assailg the vigoro ternal bate, the BSA learship cid 2013 to allow participatn by openly gay youth. However, the anizatn faced ntued prsure to ease s ban on gay adults servg as paid staff or major Sut uncils ma clear they would fy the ban, and BSA headquarters beme creasgly worried that uld face lawsus om stat that prohib workplace discrimatn based on sexual the urgg of Robert Gat, the former fense secretary who was BSA print at the time, the Suts’ Natnal Executive Board voted on July 27, 2015, to end the blanket ban on gay adult lears while allowg church-sponsored uns to mata the excln for relig 73 percent of all Sut uns are sponsored by church, some of them open to participatn by gay adults.

GAY BOY SUTS? WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR BOYS?

Supreme, now 45, is pleased that the BSA eased the ban but disapprov of the provisn allowg church-sponsored troops to ntue excludg gays.

“We are on the thrhold of a signifint historil event — a return to posive natnal growth for the first time s, ” Gat are no official statistics on how many gay adults have been accepted as BSA lears.

“We do not quire about the sexual orientatn of our youth members, adult volunteers or employe, ” said Boy Suts natnal spokwoman Effie the policy change, there have been few news reports of gay adults beg rebuffed after tryg to bee BSA volunteers. Fsett to return to the anizatn he grew up Boy Suts as a Mormon and was a troop lear until he me out as gay 2008 and had to leave.

BOY SUTS FARG WELL A YEAR AFTER EASG BAN ON GAY ADULTS

”One of the groups that mpaigned agast the BSA’s bans on gay youths and adults — Suts for Equaly — is tryg to build a natnal work of Sut uns that publicly intify as welg gays. Image source, AFPImage ptn, A ban on allowg openly gay boys to be members of the group was overturned 2013The Boy Suts of Ameri (BSA) has unanimoly approved a rolutn to end the anisatn's ban on gay adults workg as lears.

BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO END BAN ON GAY ADULTS

Earlier this year, former US fence secretary Robert Gat, who is BSA print, told the group's natnal meetg that the ban on gay adults need to end, sayg was no longer staable. The selectn of Mr Gat as print 2014 was seen as an opportuny to revis the policy sce he helped end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that barred openly gay people om servg the US ary.

Several nomatns that sponsor large numbers of sut uns - cludg the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Conventn - have been apprehensive about endg the ban on gay rolutn was hailed by Zach Wahls, an Eagle Sut (the hight boy sut rank) raised by two lbians who now heads the advocy group Suts for Equaly.

BOY SUTS OF AMERI DELAYS DECISN ON MEMBERSHIP POLICY BANNG GAYS

"While this policy change is not perfect - BSA's relig charterg partners will be allowed to ntue to discrimate agast gay adults - is difficult to overstate the importance of today's announcement, " Mr Wahls on this story.

BOY SUTS OF AMERI LIFTS BAN ON GAY LEARS

6, 2013 -- The Boy Suts of Ameri, which was expected to announce today a cisn regardg their ntroversial ban on gay and lbian members, stead said a cisn won't e until May at the prsure om many suts and parents across the untry to end the 100-year-old policy, the BSA Executive Board was expected to potentially repeal , leavg the cisn up to dividual troops. "My attu is that gays and lbians should have accs and opportuni, the same way as everyone else do, every stutn and walk of life, " Obama told CBS' Stt Pelley an terview aired before the Super Bowl.

BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO END NTROVERSIAL BAN ON OPENLY-GAY SUT LEARS

Teen's Hop for Eagle Award Dashed, Dpe SupportJennifer Tyrrell, the n lear who took her 7-year-old son, Cz, out of sutg after she was "fired" by her lol Cub Sut troop for beg gay, started a petn to change the policy for her on that has received 338, 846 signatur sce she posted the was very emotnal about today's announcement tellg ABC News she "uldn't stop cryg" after she heard the news. RELATED STORY: Boy Suts Renfirm Policy: No Gays AllowedOver the next three months, mte are expected to gather feedback om those volved wh sutg about the Thursday, the BSA posted their ntact rmatn and a requt for feedback to their Facebook page. A Gallup/USA Today poll nducted December that asked specifilly about allowg gay and lbian adults to serve as sut lears found 52 percent opposed the ia.

BOY SUTS VOTE TO LIFT BAN ON GAY YOUTH

The Suts’ 80-member Natnal Executive Board approved the rolutn that drops s blanket rtrictn on openly gay adult lears and employe.

”In 2013, the Boy Suts’ Natnal Council removed s rtrictn on membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientatn but they kept the ban of s gay adult lears. This policy change was cricized by people and groups on both sis of the issue; LGBTQ anizatns felt didn’t go far enough and relig groups were agast allowg openly gay youth to be members.

Prr to this and for more than thirty years, the Boy Suts of Ameri’s official posn was to ny membership to dividuals (members and lears) who were openly gay. This lson provis an opportuny for stunts to learn more about the evolutn of the Boy Suts’ posn on gay members and lears, analyze Robert Gat’ recent speech on the issue and explore stunts’ own pots of view by wrg persuasive says. Jt over one year after liftg s ban on gay employe, the Boy Suts of Ameri has announced will accept transgenr boys as members of s sutg chapters natnwi.

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

"The Human Rights Campaign appld the cisn but lled on BSA to extend to “full LGBTQ cln for both employe and volunteers, ” notg that the policy change allowg gay employe and volunteers did not extend to transgenr adults.