The long-awaited, long-overdue vote to end the Boy Scouts of America's ban on gay adults is expected to take place tomorrow.
The vote comes two months after BSA president Robert Gates called for an end to the ban, saying it was unsustainable. Last week, the BSA Executive Committee unanimously voted to approve a resolution urging an end to the ban.
The New York Times reports:
On Monday, bowing to still-accelerating shifts in opinion and law, the Scouts will relax their policy barring openly gay adults from serving as the den leaders, scoutmasters and camp counselors who are at the heart of the scouting experience.
The Scouts will also on Monday bar discrimination based on sexual orientation in all official facilities and paying jobs across the country, heading off potential suits and violations of employment discrimination laws.
But to keep some of the larger church sponsors in the fold, Scout executives concluded that they must allow for diverse policies for local volunteers. Church-based units may “continue to choose adult leaders whose beliefs are consistent with their own,” according to a statement that the Scouts' top executives sent this month to regional board members.
In the countdown to the historic vote, Scouts for Equality has been Tweeting out the names and faces of men and women who have been fired or removed from a leadership position with the BSA over the discriminatory policy.
https://twitter.com/Scouts4Equality/status/625023971793113088
https://twitter.com/Scouts4Equality/status/625054446184108032
Rick Perry and Scott Walker have both voiced their support for the discriminatory policy.
