Boy Scouts of America Delays Vote on Policy Banning Gay Scouts and Leaders: Gay Scouts and Scout leaders have collected more than 1.4 million signatures calling for the end of anti-gay ban.
After over a week of reports that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) would consider lifting its national ban on gay Scouts and leaders, the organization’s Board of Directors decided in a closed door meeting yesterday to form a task force to study the issue, and will, in the interim, keep the discriminatory policy on the books — preventing openly gay Scouts and Scout leaders from serving in the organization.
“After careful consideration and extensive dialogue within the Scouting family, along with comments from those outside the organization, the volunteer officers of the Boy Scouts of America’s National Executive Board concluded that due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy,” the organization said after their Board meeting concluded.
Jennifer Tyrrell, a gay mom from Bridgeport, Ohio, who was ousted as the leader of her son’s Cub Scout Pack in April 2012 because of her sexual orientation, helped spark a national movement calling on the Boy Scouts to change its policy. Tyrrell, with the support of GLAAD, started a petition on Change.org that rallied hundreds of thousands urging the Boy Scouts to welcome gay Scouts and leaders.
“A scout is supposed to be brave, and the Boy Scouts failed to be brave today,” said Tyrrell, who was in Dallas on Monday to deliver the signatures from her Change.org petition. “The Boy Scouts had the chance to help countless young people and devoted parents, but they’ve failed us yet again. No parent should have to look their child in the eye and explain that the Boy Scouts don’t want us.”
“Our fight will continue,” added Tyrrell, “and we will continue to educate donors and supporters of the Boy Scouts about the effects of their anti-gay policy.”
Zach Wahls, an Eagle Scout and founder of the organization Scouts for Equality, said that today’s news was simply not a strong enough gesture from the Boy Scouts of America to ensure that they take discrimination seriously.
“An organization that serves youth and chooses to intentionally hurt dedicated young people and hardworking parents not only flies in the face of American principles, but the principles of being a Boy Scout,” said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. “The Boy Scouts of America is choosing to ignore the cries of millions, including religious institutions, current scouting families, and corporate sponsors, but these cries will not be silenced. We’re living in a culture where hurting young gay people because of who they are is unpopular and discriminatory.”
“On Monday, the Boy Scouts of America received 1.4 million petition signatures urging the organization to end its national policy banning gay youth and parents, and today, those voices went unanswered,” said Change.org Senior Campaign Manager Mark Anthony Dingbaum. “With 9 national campaigns and more than 50 local campaigns already launched on Change.org calling for an end to the BSA’s policy, millions are wondering how many more stories of gay youth and leaders, like Ryan Andresen and Jen Tyrrell, need to surface before the Boy Scouts decide to end this policy.”
Live signature totals from Change.org petitions targeting the Boy Scouts of America:
http://www.change.org/boyscouts
For more information on Scouts for Equality, please visit:
http://www.scoutsforequality.org/
Scouts for Equality is the Boy Scouts of America alumni working to end the BSA’s ban on gay members and leaders. We are committed to the task of winning over individual Scouting units at the local level while continuing to push for a full end to discrimination in the BSA. As Scouts, we believe discrimination goes against the values our movement teaches us and has no place in Scouting’s future.
