The National Council of the Boy Scouts of America took a step into the 21st Century last week by approving a resolution that reads: “No youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.”
About 61 percent of the 1,400 members who voted were in favor. In 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that the organization could block gays from becoming Scouts. On Thursday, the Boy Scouts proactively voted to drop their discriminatory ban. Left unaddressed was the prohibition on openly gay Scout leaders. Under the new rules, the gay Scouts who come out or who join will be drummed out once they become adults. GLAAD spokesman Rich Ferraro sounded a hopeful note when he said that the vote is “a clear indication that the Boy Scouts’ ban on gay adult leaders will also inevitably end.” It must. The Boy Scouts have set up an untenable situation.
Editorial, Pages 14 on 05/29/2013