The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has
unanimously approved a resolution to end
the organisation's ban on gay adults
working as leaders.
The group's national executive board will meet to
ratify the resolution on 27 July, the Boy Scouts
said in a statement.
It is a major step towards ending a policy that
has caused deep rifts in the group, which was set
up in 1910.
The BSA voted to end a ban on allowing open
gay boys to become scouts in 2013.
Earlier this year, former US defence secretary
Robert Gates, who is BSA president, told the
group's national meeting that the ban on gay
adults needed to end, saying it was no longer
sustainable.
The selection of Mr Gates as president in 2014
was seen as an opportunity to revisit the policy
since he helped end the "don't ask, don't tell"
policy that barred openly gay people from
serving in the US military.
The resolution, which was passed by the BSA's
17-member executive committee on Friday, will
become official policy if it is ratified by the 80-
member executive board later this month.
It will allow scout units to set their own policy on
the issue and mean they can select adult leaders
without regard to sexual orientation.
It will, however, also allow units with religious
ties to "continue to choose adult leaders whose
beliefs are consistent with their own".
Several denominations that sponsor large
numbers of scout units - including the Roman
Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist
Convention - have been apprehensive about
ending the ban on gay adults.
The resolution was hailed by Zach Wahls, an
Eagle Scout (the highest boy scout rank) raised by
two lesbians who now heads the advocacy
group Scouts for Equality.
"While this policy change is not perfect - BSA's
religious chartering partners will be allowed to
continue to discriminate against gay adults - it is
difficult to overstate the importance of today's
announcement," Mr Wahls said.
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