Vote on gay Scouts comes at emotional moment

May 23, 2013 @ 12:16 am


Matthew Ray, 15, of North Richland Hills, Texas, holds signs near where the Boy Scouts of America are holding their annual meeting Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in Grapevine, Texas. Delegates to the meeting are expected to address a proposal to allow gay scouts into the organization. (AP Photo/LM Otero) | Zoom

GRAPEVINE, Texas (AP) - The Boy Scouts of America's national leadership will vote Thursday whether to allow openly gay Scouts in its ranks, a critical and emotionally charged moment for one of the nation's oldest youth organizations and its millions of members.

About 1,400 voting members of BSA's national council are to cast ballots Thursday on a resolution that would end a policy that allows youth Scouts to be excluded based only on sexual orientation. The ban on gay adult leaders would remain in place.

The vote is taking place at a resort in Grapevine, Texas, not far from BSA's headquarters, during the national council's three-day annual meeting. While the meeting was closed to the public, it was closely watched by supporters and opponents of a change. Both sides on Wednesday made a final effort to explain their positions. Gay-rights supporters and others who want the policy changed held a summit at a nearby resort, while opponents held signs on the street next to the entrance and a rally nearby.

The results are expected to be announced shortly after 5 p.m. CDT Thursday.

Both sides have waged an effort resembling a political campaign in the months leading up to Thursday's vote. Supporters of allowing gay scouts used a political consulting firm and targeted about 120 local Scouting councils that they thought were the most competitive _ the "swing districts" where they thought votes could be won. Opponents cited Texas code to obtain the names and addresses of voting members from BSA officials so they could send out mailings. They also held rallies across the country on the same day last week.

Scouting was established in 1910 and claims 2.6 million youth members, in addition to thousands of leaders and volunteers. Its board of directors includes executives and community leaders, and President Barack Obama is its honorary president.

BSA has faced mounting pressure over its exclusion policy as public opinion toward gays and gay marriage continues to evolve. Obama called on the Scouts to reverse the ban before a national executive board meeting in February, and two high-profile board members _ the CEOs of AT&T and Ernst & Young _ said they would work from within to change the policy.

The national executive board decided instead to leave the final decision to a vote of the national council, and BSA launched a listening tour of surveys and focus groups. BSA President Wayne Perry called on voters to approve the resolution overturning the ban, in an opinion piece for USA Today published online Wednesday.

Findings that BSA published on its website illustrate the difficult balancing act it faces.

BSA said a majority of "adults in the Scouting community" support the current ban, but a majority of current Boy Scouts and Venture scouts do not, according to the findings. About 48 percent of parents of current Scouts support the policy, down from 57 percent three years ago.

One estimate suggested a policy change could cause as many as 100,000 to 350,000 Scouts to leave. And it could also affect donors _ just more than half of local councils reported to BSA that their donors supported the current ban.

Of the more than 100,000 Scouting units in the U.S., 70 percent are chartered by religious institutions. While these sponsors include liberal churches opposed to any ban on gays, some of the largest sponsors are relatively conservative denominations that have previously supported the broad ban _ notably the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Southern Baptist churches.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced in April that it supports the new proposal. Leaders of some smaller, conservative denominations have opposed it.

"Ultimately we can't anticipate how people will vote but we do know that the result will not match everyone's personal preference," said Deron Smith, BSA's national spokesman.

____

On the Web: BSA Membership Standards Resolution: http://bit.ly/185yyXk

Crary reported from New York.

Follow David Crary on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/craryap

Follow Nomaan Merchant on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/nomaanmerchant


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (40)


  • Add A Comment

  • po_guy wrote...
    That "woman" in the picture...
    January 29, 2013 10:35 am
    Does NOT look female!!! I found myself looking around the pic to find the woman who had arrived with her son. Then I realized it was that abomination in the scout uniform. UGH!!! Putrid, sick, abominable, filthy wierdos. Freaks.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    That "woman" in the picture?
    January 29, 2013 12:25 pm
    what picture you talking about. They say I'm a day tripper?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • po_guy wrote...
    Guess you caught this story a little late
    January 29, 2013 1:16 pm
    ...there was a pic of the lezzie up earlier...what a brutal looking creature...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • 2shbag wrote...
    Why dont they create The Gay Scouts?
    January 29, 2013 1:41 pm
    Why do the gays have to push their beliefs on the rest? I said it when they got marriage legalized, they will just find something else to get the attention they crave and bug the crap out of non gays.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    Keep the regime out of the public.
    February 6, 2013 5:54 am
    The Dear Leader has no right to inject himself and your beloved regime in any of this. This is private sector and this Constitutional breaking King of yours needs to stop.

    2014!

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Jason wrote...
    Why????
    February 6, 2013 6:59 am
    The Boy Scouts is a private organization. I know they won't do this but hold out hope that they won't cave in. Homosexuality is a choice not something you're born with. It's not natural or an acceptable behavior in my opinion. There should be organizations such as this where traditional morals can be upheld and not perverted into what those with perverted values want. The only driving force behind this and gay marriage is that the public at large is tired of hearing the squeaky wheel of the minority.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • WAmovesRight wrote...
    I love the Pacific Northwest...
    February 6, 2013 7:55 am
    ... but it is getting more & more difficult to live here. I know the BSA issue is a national one but, rest assured, if they change their policy to include homosexuals, WA will be one of the first states to openly embrace it... perhaps even faster than CA.

    Thing is, it should be universally acknolwedged that homosexuality is not healthy physically. In fact, it is a very unhealthy lifestyle. For that reason alone, our society should strongly discourage the BEHAVIOR. You discourage it by not legitimizing it. That doesn't mean you want to persecute members of the LGBT subculture but it does mean you discourage our youth from it.

    Then there is the emotional, psychological... and most importantly spiritual objections that come into play. It's an immoral lifestyle and completely unnatural.

    The most incredible thing to me is that poriton of the "christian" community that supports homosexuality. If you are an atheist, I don't expect you to hold to biblical commandments & instructions but if you are going to call yourself a christian then please at least beleive the Bible.

    2Ti 2:19 ...Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • flipper wrote...
    Logistics of this decision
    February 6, 2013 10:28 am
    There's a balance here folks. Scouting has to weigh the potential financial gain from opening up its membership to the loss of its major source of chartering organizations, religious organizations. Note the paradox that large numbers of units that had been chartered by PTA's and local schools converted to being chartered by religious groups because of the policy. I think a number of the religious sponsoring units were taken by surprise by the suddenness of the Scouting announcement last week and need time to understand what that means. Bottom line: Money or Membership?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HLC wrote...
    I would take it farther yet.
    February 6, 2013 11:02 am
    No homo teachers, youth sports coaches, any positions that gave them control over kids. In Obozos words. If we can do one thing to protect our kid, shouldn't we try it. This would do more to protect kids then a ban on scary looking guns.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    2012!
    February 6, 2013 1:26 pm
    you guys were[are] done in 2012!! When you was in your BS tent with your buddy who blow out the candle? Bet it was you!!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Snout wrote...
    Why do they insist on changing the Scouts?
    February 6, 2013 2:55 pm
    Form your own scout organization that allows this sort of thing if you want. There's nothing stopping you from doing so but you insist on tearing down existing institutions for some reason. Who knows, after years of propaganda, whining, and indoctrination of our young people you might end up with a large organization. Leave the Scouts alone.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
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