Lambda Legal Applauds Vote by Boy Scouts National Executive Committee to Lift Ban on Gay Leaders

“One important way of judging a society is how it treats its young people.  The story of how America’s largest youth organization became more open and accepting is a remarkable story of incremental change that is not fully over…”

(Los Angeles, July 27, 2015) – The National Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) today voted to end the organization’s ban on allowing openly gay and bisexual adults from joining the BSA and serving in leadership positions, following the advice of its president, Robert M. Gates, who two months ago announced his view that the organization should no longer enforce the ban.

However, as Gates also recommended in May, religious organizations that sponsor a majority of scouting units will still be allowed to set their own policies for leaders, which could permit discrimination to continue in a majority of Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout dens indefinitely.

Jon W. Davidson, Legal Director and Eden/Rushing Chair at Lambda Legal, issued the following statement

“Today’s vote by the National Executive Committee to end the organization’s decades-long policy of excluding openly gay and bisexual adults from membership in Scouting marks yet another milestone in the march toward LGBT equality in our nation. To be sure, the change will not free the BSA of sexual orientation discrimination altogether, however, as religious organizations that charter some 70 percent of local BSA units will still be permitted to discriminate in their selection of BSA unit leaders. Nonetheless, this is another repudiation of antigay discrimination by the Boy Scouts and another key moment for gay rights as openly gay and bisexual adults will be able to participate in Scouting, even if not in every troop or den.

“As a result of this reform, which is to take effect immediately, gay men, bisexuals and lesbians will be able to volunteer and participate in the BSA without having to hide their sexual orientation or their committed relationships; the organization will cease discriminating in employment based on sexual orientation; lesbian, gay and bisexual parents will no longer be excluded from being formally involved in Cub Scout dens and Boy Scout troops along with their sons; those previously excluded will be able to reapply for membership; and, the BSA, as an entity, will drop its policy that conveyed to all boys, regardless of their sexual orientation, that being gay was inconsistent with the Scout oath and law’s principles of being “clean and morally straight.” Today’s vote will help thousands of boys enjoy scouting without the terrible message that being gay is an aspect of one’s life that needs to be hidden in shame.

“The path to this moment has been a long and winding one, and there have been setbacks and detours along the way. Our community never gave up – and the power of continuing the fight for justice and equality is the most important lesson to be learned from today’s development. The multiple lawsuits filed against the BSA revealed in very human terms the injustice – legal or not – of expelling qualified boys and men from America’s largest youth group based on bias. They also, in effect, “outed” the BSA as a discriminatory organization and contributed to a steady decline in BSA membership that was one of the impetuses for today’s vote. At Lambda Legal, we are proud of the historic legal battle we waged in Dale v. Boy Scouts of America.  Although we ultimately narrowly lost that case before the U.S. Supreme Court, we won public support and understanding about the harms caused by the BSA’s policy and practices of discrimination that paved the way for today’s progress.

“One important way of judging a society is how it treats its young people.  The story of how America’s largest youth organization became more open and accepting is a remarkable story of incremental change that is not fully over, but that happened because many individuals relentlessly continued to press forward, using every tool they could muster."