In a surprising turn of events, the Boy Scouts of America is apparently close to reversing its stance on allowing gay scouts and scout leaders, just six months after the organization reaffirmed its anti-gay stance. NBC reports that a source close to the Boy Scout board says they are having internal talks about changing the policy after a significant grassroots effort by troops around the country has spoken out on the issue.
One story that made headlines in 2012 was that of Jennifer Tyrrell, an openly gay Cub Scout den mother from Ohio who was ousted from her position because of the organization's policy.
About 50 United Way chapters and a bunch of other organizations have withdrawn their financial support for the Boy Scouts saying that the ban on gay members violates their non-discrimination requirements.
There remain a lot of organizations that donate to the Boy Scouts, and individual local councils that will want the ban maintained, but a couple of corporate CEOs on the Boy Scout board Randall Stephenson of AT&T and James Turley of Ernst & Young have already said they would work to end the ban.
This reversal, if it happens, comes 13 years after the Supreme Court decision that affirmed the Boy Scouts' First Amendment right as a private organization to exclude homosexuals.
[NBC]
