Brody's Notes... Boy Scouts Set To Review Controversial Anti-Gay Policy

Zach Wahls courtesy of ABCNews

By Brody Levesque | PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- In an interview with MSNBC Wednesday while attending an annual gathering of progressive bloggers here, LGBTQ Equality Rights activist Zach Wahls said that he was told that The Boy Scouts of America is considering a newly proposed resolution that calls for ending a 102-year-old policy banning gay scouts as well as gay or lesbian scout leaders.

Deron Smith, a spokesperson for the organization, said Wednesday that it would review the proposal insisting there were no plans to change the policy.

"Up to the day they end this policy, they'll be saying they have no plans to do so," Wahls said. "But there's no question it's costing the Boy Scouts in terms of membership and public support."

Wahls, an Eagle Scout who has advocated for the change, cited unidentified sources with whom he had spoken with who attended the group's national annual meeting last week where the proposal was made. The new policy would throw out the national ban and allow local chartering organizations to decide whether or not they would accept gay youth and leaders.

Last Wednesday Wahls, accompanied by officials from Change.org which had headed up a petition drive asking for the reinstatement of Jennifer Tyrrell to her post as den mother after she was ousted in April because she is lesbian, delivered a petition bearing 275,000 signatures calling for an end to the anti-gay policy.

BSA spokesperson Smith told MSNBC that a resolution to amend the national policy to allow each of the Scouting’s chartered groups to set its own standards regarding gay members was turned in by a Scout leader from the northeast before April 30, the deadline for submitting resolutions to the meeting. He said it was read on May 31 at the meeting.

“While we’ll carefully consider this resolution, there are no plans to change this policy,” he said noting that resolutions and petitions on the matter were “not unique” and dated back to 2000, when the Supreme Court heard a challenge over their stance (the justices sided with the Boy Scouts in the lawsuit involving a former Assistant Scoutmaster who was gay, citing the protections of the First Amendment).

Smith added that the BSA's decision to accept the petition was “not related to the resolution,” earlier noting that it was out of respect for different points of view. He said resolutions were referred to and reviewed by a committee that would report back to the national executive board. The board then decides what actions are “appropriate,” he said.

The process would likely be done by May 2013, he said.

“There has been discussion about the BSA’s membership policy for decades. The BSA respectfully considers a wide range of views on this issue. Scouting has concluded its longstanding policy reflects the beliefs and perspectives of the BSA’s members,” he said. 

“Scouting believes same-sex attraction should be introduced and discussed outside of its youth program with parents, caregivers, or spiritual advisers, at the appropriate time and in the right setting. The vast majority of parents we serve value this right.”

Smith noted that other resolutions had been introduced in the past “admonishing us to not change the policy. We have millions of youth and adult members each with a variety of beliefs about this issue and no single policy will accommodate everyone’s views.”

Wahls told MSNBC that he was “absolutely ecstatic” when he heard about the proposal to change the policy, saying it would be akin to the repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

“Clearly this shows that there’s a little bit more internal discussion than they might be outwardly describing, so in a very real sense this was in a lot of ways kind of the best possible, most realistic outcome of that delivery of that Change.org petition,” he said. 

“It’s kind of hard to believe really that ... we are finding ourselves in this place, but here we are.”