Boy Suts change policy on gay lears | CNN

Contents:

• BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO ALLOW GAY SUT LEARS
• BOY SUTS CHANGE POLICY ON GAY LEARS
• CAN A GAY BOY SUT SHARE A TENT WH ANOTHER BOY? BOY SUTS SURVEY MEMBERS ON ANTI-GAY POLICY
• 'EXTREMELY DISAPPOTG': SUTS BOOT OPENLY GAY TROOP LEAR
• GAY BOY SUTS? WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR BOYS?
• BOY SUTS BOOT OPENLY GAY SUT LEAR
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI ENDS BAN ON GAY ADULT LEARS
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI MOV TO STOP BANNG GAY TROOP LEARS
• BOY SUTS OF AMERI ENDS BAN ON GAY AND LBIAN TROOP LEARS
• BOY SUTS’ PRINT CALLS FOR END TO BAN ON GAY LEARS
• THE BOY SUTS AND THEIR POLICY AGAST GAY LEARS
• BOY SUTS TELL GAY LEAR TO TAKE A HIKE

BOY SUTS OF AMERI VOT TO ALLOW GAY SUT LEARS

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.

BOY SUTS CHANGE POLICY ON GAY LEARS

"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. “On Monday July 27 the natnal executive board ratified a rolutn removg the natnal rtrictn on openly gay lears and employe, ” Boy Suts of Ameri Print Robert Gat said a vio statement on Monday.

“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 Rrights Campaign Print Chad Griff a statement. “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. However, former Boy Sut learship team member Jon Langbert told CNN’s Carol Costello he believ the new policy isn’t a cure-all, sce lol troops will still be allowed to make the cisn on whether to allow gay lears.

“It creat a b of a ms when you don’t have one global policy for the Suts, ” Langbert add, notg that the natnal anizatn allows gay adults as employe. ” The are some of the qutns on a survey beg nducted by the Boy Suts of Ameri as the private youth anizatn prepar to ci whether should end s ntroversial policy banng gay Suts and lears.

CAN A GAY BOY SUT SHARE A TENT WH ANOTHER BOY? BOY SUTS SURVEY MEMBERS ON ANTI-GAY POLICY

But this time, the BSA ed the survey to add qutns about the policy banng gays (those qutns went only to adults) spokman Deron Smh, who provid the qutns on the survey to NBC News, said an email that “the BSA is mted to dialogue on the topic of s membership standards policy, wh the Sutg fay at the lol and natnal levels. The Boy Suts’ policy has creasgly been a sore spot for the anizatn over the last year, followg the dismissal of a n lear bee she is a lbian and the nial of the Eagle Sut rank to a California teen bee he is gay.

Tristam HarrgtonWhen the BSA announced late January that may dch the natnal policy and stead let lol sponsorg anizatns ci if gays n jo, the anizatn received a flood of rpons om both sis. The Boy Suts have asked for the surveys to be returned by April BSA also asked if the currently policy was a “re value” of Sutg and if rponnts would leave the BSA if a cisn was ma that disagreed wh their qutns on the survey clu:A gay male troop lear, along wh another adult lear, is takg a group of boys on a mpg trip followg the youth protectn guil of two-ep learship. Related stori: Boy Suts: We need more time for cisn on gay SutsAfter years of heartache, gay Suts and supporters react warily over proposal to lift ban'Gravely distrsed': Relign looms large over Boy Suts cisn on gays 'BATTLESTATIONS!

SEATTLE—The Boy Suts of Ameri on Monday banned an openly gay Sutmaster om the anizatn, sayg s natnal policy barred gay adults om McGrath, 49, lear of Troop 98 Seattle’s Raier Beach neighborhood, is believed to be the first gay adult to be booted om the Boy Suts of Ameri sce held a ntroversial ballot last May allowg gay youth—but not adults—to participate one of the untry’s most popular youth anizatns. The Suts had severed ti wh gay adults prev years, before the vote to adm gay youth, but McGrath, an Eagle Sut, had been hopg for a different rponse this new era of Sutg.

'EXTREMELY DISAPPOTG': SUTS BOOT OPENLY GAY TROOP LEAR

“They are plag that the problem [his stat as an openly gay man] is a distractn to Sutg and they don’t seem to unrstand that the distractn is self-flicted. McGrath today and based on the rmatn he provid, the Natnal Council has revoked his registratn, ” Smh Monday, McGrath believed himself to be the only openly gay Sutmaster the natn, havg won approval last fall to n a troop spe the anizatn's ban agast gay adults.

McGrath said he didn't hi his sexual orientatn om Sutg lears, but Seattle’s top BSA official told NBC News that she never knew he was gay. Koyle Kendrick, a gay teen, was prevly a Boy Sut and attend the meetg to nsir jog a gay-iendly DiCampo / for NBC NewsMcGrath said startg the un was not a publicy stunt but a bid to serve youth and rejo the ntent discsn around gay and lbian adult membership. McGrath’s Troop 98 is part of the BSA's Chief Seattle Council, which said late Sunday that didn't quire about his sexual orientatn—as directed by BSA policy—when he applied for a learship posn, acrdg to Sharon Moulds, the uncil’s top profsnal said she found out McGrath was gay only after NBC News ntacted her.

McGrath, a married Eagle Sut who has been wh his hband for 20 years, said he worried his sexual orientatn would sk the effort sce openly gay Sutmasters prev years—before the vote to adm gay youth—have been booted om McGrath knows this om his own experience, too. It was the most paful part of his cisn to e out as gay, he said, and led to his exmunitn the next year om the Mormon church that had sponsored his Boy Sut un.

GAY BOY SUTS? WHAT HAPPENED TO OUR BOYS?

That end his relatnship wh the anizatn he had advanced through sce he was a child—or so he stgglg wh rejectn om his Mormon elrs, and after seeg his intil tw brother Dave, who is straight, mpaign for gays to be admted to Sutg, McGrath thought was time he do what he uld to help brg about change: He cid to start an clive lears chat after a troop meetg at Raier Beach Uned Methodist Church Seattle, Wa., on March 27, 2014.

”“One of the thgs that’s different now wh our troop om when I was a youth the Suts, was there were no intifiable gay or lbian adults, ” McGrath said, rellg the isolatn and shame he felt as a teen when he thought he was the only gay person parents and their boys gathered last Thursday at the church for the weekly Boy Suts’ meetg said they had no problem wh McGrath’s sexual orientatn. He didn’t thk McGrath’s sexual orientatn was a big al and said his beg out was “settg a great example” by showg he wasn’t aaid to be un currently unts only heterosexual boys among s ranks, but a gay teen, 17-year-old Koyle Kendrick, said he plans to jo after he fish his end-of-year exams.

BOY SUTS BOOT OPENLY GAY SUT LEAR

”Yet seeg another gay lear kicked out of Sutg was tough, said Zach Wahls, -founr of Suts for Equaly, which advot for cludg gay adults the Boy Suts. The Catechism of the Catholic Church affirms homosexualy, the clatn of beg sexually attracted to the same sex, is herently disorred (CCC 2357). An openly gay Boy Suts troop lear Washgton state was abptly removed om his post for "liberately jectg" his sexualy to the job, the Boy Suts of Ameri announced on McGrath, sutmaster of Seattle's Troop 98, was beg profiled by NBC News when the anizatn said was severg ti wh him.

“The Natnal Council has revoked his registratn, ” Smh ’s believed McGrath is the first lear to lose his posn sce the Boy Suts of Ameri changed s policy last year, votg to allow gay suts but not gay sut lears.

McGrath, whose charter applitn for a new troop through the Raier Beach Uned Methodist Church was approved last fall, said he didn't hi his orientatn and that the Boy Suts knew about his open support of gay rights.

BOY SUTS OF AMERI ENDS BAN ON GAY ADULT LEARS

“They are plag that [beg openly gay] is a distractn to Sutg and they don’t seem to unrstand that the distractn is self-flicted.

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.

BOY SUTS OF AMERI MOV TO STOP BANNG GAY TROOP LEARS

Gat also ced broar gay-rights velopments and warned that rigidly matag the ban "will be the end of as a natnal movement. 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.

The Boy Suts of Ameri announced Monday that s Executive Council had voted unanimoly to let lol anizatns select adult lears whout regard to sexual orientatn, a move that would open the door to gay and bisexual troop cisn giv each lol troop the right to ci for self whether to nsir sexual orientatn, allowg relig anizatns to ntue banng gay lears and secular anizatns to clu group’s natnal executive board has yet to ratify the cisn.

Defense secretary and CIA Boy Suts of Ameri rolved to accept gay Suts Executive Council vote, which took place Friday, would allow “sutg’s members and parents to select lol uns, chartered to anizatns wh siar beliefs, that bt meet the needs of their fai, ” the group said a statement.

BOY SUTS OF AMERI ENDS BAN ON GAY AND LBIAN TROOP LEARS

“For s, the Boy Suts of Ameri’s ban on gay adults has stood as a towerg example of explic, stutnal homophobia one of Ameri’s most important and regnizable civic anizatns, ” Wahls said a statement.

“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. Dale, the natnal anizatn fought for the right to exclu a gay Sut lear on that basis that homosexual nduct was nsistent wh the anizatn’s relig beliefs and missn to culte valu young people, so should not have to clu gay Supreme Court led 5-4 that the Boy Suts had a nstutnal right to exclu openly gay Sut masters based on the Suts’ 1st Amendment eedom of the Boy Suts of Ameri were required to ligate Dale today, “ would almost certaly lose, ” said a lengthy memo on the anizatn’s webse explag Monday’s announcement to relig anizatns.

It said the anizatn is too ternally divid on the issue, and legal precents and public opn have too drastilly changed, for to succeed legally fendg a natnal ban on gay Sut lears.

BOY SUTS’ PRINT CALLS FOR END TO BAN ON GAY LEARS

The jtic by a 5-4 vote overturned a New Jersey Supreme Court lg that the dismissal of a gay Sut lear had been illegal unr the. Forcg to accept gays would vlate s nstutnal right of eedom of associatn and ee speech unr the First Amendment, said. He said for the urt majory that applyg a state public acmodatns law to require the Boy Suts to adm a gay troop lear vlat the group's nstutnal right of exprsive associatn.

He add, however, "We are not, as we mt not be, guid by our views of whether the Boy Suts' teachg wh rpect to homosexual nduct are right or wrong. Dale, as -print of Rutgers Universy's Lbian/Gay Alliance, gave a speech July 1990, which was the subject of the article, and later that month, he received a dismissal letter om the Boy Suts.

THE BOY SUTS AND THEIR POLICY AGAST GAY LEARS

State urts California, Connecticut, Oregon and Kansas have led the Boy Suts' favor siar public-acmodatn s brought by girls, atheists, homosexuals and the like.

BOY SUTS TELL GAY LEAR TO TAKE A HIKE

Davidson, an attorney for the Boy Suts, argued that the Suts were right firg Dale bee he "had created a reputatn for himself" by publicizg his sexual preference and that his beg gay hampered his abily to be a role mol for Suts. Evan Wolfson, Dale's lawyer, argued that bee the Boy Suts are not specifilly an "anti-gay anizatn, " Dale's prence did not tat the group's msage. The natnal erng body of the Boy Suts of Ameri has end a blanket ban on gay adult lears while allowg church-sponsored Sut uns to mata the excln bee of their new policy, aimed at easg a ntroversy that embroiled the Boy Suts for years and threatened the anizatn wh lawsus, tak effect immediately.