Boy Scouts of America want to lift ban on gay counselors

Photo: trust.org

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is lifting the ban on appointing gay adults as Boy Scout troop leaders.

The organization's board is scheduled to ratify the resolution Monday, which the BSA executive committee unanimously approved on July 13. The organization calls for the ban to be lifted due to “fundamental changes in legislation regarding the rights of homosexuals.”

In May 2015, former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who serves as head of the Boy Scouts of America, called the ban on gays working in the organization obsolete.

It is noted that now the boy scout policy does not prohibit gay adults to participate in BSA activities, but local authorities will be given the opportunity to make an independent decision regarding the approval of gays as counselors.

The Boy Scouts of America has about 2,5 million members aged 7 to 21, as well as about 960 thousand volunteers in local units, the source notes.

The US Supreme Court ruled at the end of June that right to marry extends to same-sex marriage than legalized such kind of unions throughout the United States.