Speak Out: Boy Scouts of America Accept Gay Youths

One of the nation's largest youth organizations votes to begin accepting openly gay kids and teens as members.

More than 60 percent of the Boy Scouts of America’s voting members agreed to lift the ban on admitting openly gay kids and teens into scout troops beginning Jan. 1, 2014. But the move prompted some organizations to say they would pull their sponsorships of packs and troops while LGBT activitists said the policy change should go further by allowing gay adults to take on leadership roles. The Thursday vote did not address allowing gay scout leaders. It only addressed admitting gay youth. Some conservative churches and parents said the scouts were violating an oath to be "morally straight." The leader of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington issued a statement saying the vote would likely force the diocese to reconsider sponsoring troops in about…

•  2 Comments
• Photos (1)

Should Boy Scouts Repeal Ban on Gay Scouts and Leaders?

A revised policy would allow gay members but continue to prohibit adult LGBTQ leaders. Should Boy Scouts of America lift its ban for youth? Has the policy affected your family's experience with scouting? Tell us in the comments.

  For years, the Boy Scouts of America has struggled with whether to lift its ban on gay scouts and leaders. But it may be an issue the organization will soon put, at least partially, to rest. In response to the flood of feedback the group has recieved since last summer, when it voted to uphold policy banning gay members and LGBTQ leaders, the Boy Scouts of America announced Friday it was proposing an end to the ban for youth scouts. The organization would still ban adults "who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA," according to the draft policy. The issue will come before 1,400 voting BSA members at a June meeting in Texas. The National Capital Area Council, …

•  295 Comments
• Photos (1)

Kenyon Larsen

1:59 pm on Thursday, May 9, 2013

As a Committee Chair of a local Boy Scout Troop and the father of Scout that will this evening sit for his Eagle Scout Board of Review, I too wish for equality. With nearly 300 comments on this article above, I am sure that I will repeat something previously said, but proposed new policy released last week enforces a non-discrimination policy against Boy Scouts under 18. This small step is …   more ›

School Night to Join Scouting

Boy Scouts of America is reaching out to schools to offer a character building program for young boys, young men, and young women.

"This is the 100th year and over 100 million young men have participated in Scouting."  Mike Butler is the Director of Field Services for the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) National Capital Area Council.  He works with a team of professionals and dedicated volunteers to bring scouting to tens of thousands of youth in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.  As a parent of a new boy scout, Butler also appreciates all of the things parents want for their children. "This is a program that develops character, citizenship, physical fitness, a sense of duty to others, and values that have been consistent in for 100 years," Butler said.  The values that scouting brings to young people are just as relevant today, as they were when scouting …