Under pressure, Boy Scouts may ease no-gays policy

Facing diverse and ceaseless protests, the Boy Scouts of America is signaling its readiness to end the nationwide exclusion of gays as scouts or leaders and give the sponsors of local troops the freedom to decide the matter for themselves.

If approved by the Scouts’ national executive board, possibly as soon as next week, the change would be another momentous milestone for America’s gay-rights movement, following a surge of support for same-sex marriage and the ending of the ban on gays serving opening in military.

“The pulse of equality is strong in America, and today it beats a bit faster with news that the Boy Scouts may finally put an end to its long history of discrimination,” said Chad Griffin of the Human Rights Campaign, a major gay-rights group.

Under the proposed change, which was outlined Monday by the Scouts, the different religious and civic groups that sponsor Scout units would be able to decide for themselves how to address the issue – either maintaining an exclusion of gays, as is now required of all units, or opening up their membership.