Boy Scouts Council in Texas Votes to Maintain Ban on Openly Gay Members

Boy Scouts officials in Houston, Texas, voted Monday to maintain the organization's policies that bar openly gay youth who seek to participate in troop activities.

The Board of Directors of the Sam Houston Area Council voted to support the current membership policy of the Boy Scouts of America, which "does not proactively inquire about the sexual orientation of employees, volunteers, or members, but does not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA," the council said in a statement.

The Houston-area council's vote followed an extensive survey of parents, adult leaders, chartered partners and financial partners, who, by a 75 percent majority, support maintaining the Boy Scouts national policy for membership standards, and oppose a proposed resolution that would lift the ban on openly gay members. Officials from the council said their survey results match the outcomes from an independent survey of their member parents and leaders that was conducted by the BSA.

Nationwide, the BSA's own official "Voice of the Scout" survey shows respondents support the current ban on openly homosexual members and leaders, 61 percent to 34 percent. Additionally, 72 percent of chartered organizations and 61 percent of Boy Scout parents support the current policy. Read more

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