The Boy Scouts of America said it will allow openly gay youths to join the organization but maintain a ban on gay adult leaders, after a vote at its annual meeting in Texas.
Sixty-one percent of the estimated 1,400 delegates of the BSA’s National Council voted to end a ban that for decades has barred open homosexuality in the movement.
“While people have different opinions about this policy, we can all agree that kids are better off when they are in Scouting.”
The text said “no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.”
The Boy Scouts, which is separate from the Girl Scouts of the USA, counts 2.6 million boys in its membership.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2000 in favor of the Boy Scouts, saying that the prohibition against openly homosexual members was part of its right as a private organization to free association.