QUEER QUOTE: Boy Scouts Rescind Homophobic Ban On Openly Gay Adult Troop Leaders

The Boy Scouts of America announced on Monday that their board of directors had voted to lift their blanket ban on openly gay scout leaders, simultaneously allowing individual chapters sponsored by religious groups to maintain their own separate bans on openly LGBT scout leaders.

Both LGBT groups and the Mormon church are unhappy with the Scouts announcement. Their responses are excerpted below and are today's Queer Quote.

Zach Wahls of Scouts for Equality said:

“While we still have some reservations about individual units discriminating against gay adults, we couldn’t be more excited about the future of Scouting. We look forward to collaborating with our supporters, progressive faith partners, allied non-profit organizations, and the Boy Scouts of America to ensure a fully inclusive Scouting movement.”

Human Right Campaign's Chad Griffin said:

"[I]ncluding an exemption for troops sponsored by religious organizations undermines and diminishes the historic nature of today's decision.  Discrimination should have no place in the Boy Scouts, period. BSA officials should now demonstrate true leadership and begin the process of considering a full national policy of inclusion that does not allow discrimination against anyone because of who they are."

But the heterosexual supremacists of the Mormon Church were not happy either, and intimated they might sever their relationship with the Boy Scouts over the move:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is deeply troubled by today’s vote by the Boy Scouts of America National Executive Board. In spite of a request to delay the vote, it was scheduled at a time in July when members of the Church’s governing councils are out of their offices and do not meet. When the leadership of the Church resumes its regular schedule of meetings in August, the century-long association with Scouting will need to be examined. The Church has always welcomed all boys to its Scouting units regardless of sexual orientation. However, the admission of openly gay leaders is inconsistent with the doctrines of the Church and what have traditionally been the values of the Boy Scouts of America. As a global organization with members in 170 countries, the Church has long been evaluating the limitations that fully one-half of its youth face where Scouting is not available. Those worldwide needs combined with this vote by the BSA National Executive Board will be carefully reviewed by the leaders of the Church in the weeks ahead.

There ya go!