Today Gay Youth are Safe Serving in Boy Scouts

Jennifer Tyrrell hugs Pascal Tessier in May at a news conference in Grapevine, Texas, marking the end of the Boy Scouts' ban on openly gay youths. Tyrrell's ouster as a lesbian Cub Scout den leader will remain in effect. (Stewart House / Getty Images / May 23, 2013)

Pascal Tessier, 17, had aspired to rise to the rank of Eagle Scout since he was in the sixth grade.

"It shows to everyone that I'm a capable person — that I'm worth something," said Tessier, of Kensington, Md.

He knew it would be an arduous process to achieve Scouting's highest honor: earn 21 merit badges, play a leadership role in the troop, complete a service project and undergo a board of review. Tessier also knew there was one requirement that he could never meet: being straight.

For years, Boy Scouts who came out publicly were forced to leave the organization.

But on Wednesday the Boy Scouts of America is lifting its ban on openly gay youths, and for the first time in the organization's 103-year history, members such as Tessier — who realized he was gay after he joined — will be able to remain in Scouting.

"Every organization has to be a living entity and change with the times, including churches and including the Boy Scouts," said Alan Snyder, who voted in favor of the change as board chairman of the Boy Scouts' Western Los Angeles County Council, which covers about two-thirds of the county and includes about 5,000 volunteers and 14,000 boys.

The lengthy, controversial approval process this year sparked protests and garnered national attention.

President Obama, several senators, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and others spoke out in favor of allowing gay Scouts. Petitions purportedly bearing 1.4 million signatures in favor of ending the ban were presented at Scouting headquarters in Texas.

But the ban had strong backing from other Scout constituencies, including the Southern Baptist Convention and the conservative Family Research Council, which bought an ad defending it.

The new policy — approved by 61% of the national council in May — has spawned differences of opinion and alternative Scouting groups.

Some troops in California had allowed gay Scouts before the ban was lifted, including a troop in Santa Monica. Other California troops including some in Orange County had adhered to the national policy. In Los Angeles County, Snyder said, some officials initially balked at lifting the ban.

"At a board level in our local council, the heartwarming aspect of it has been that as people became knowledgeable on the issues, even board members that were cool to the idea have accepted it," said Snyder, managing partner at the investment firm Shinnecock Partners in Los Angeles.

Boy Scouts' nationwide membership has dropped about 19% in the last decade to 2.6 million. About 70% of troops are sponsored by religious groups, some of which threatened to pull their charters if the ban was lifted.

Southern Baptist Convention leaders passed a resolution in June expressing their opposition to lifting the ban and their disappointment in the Boy Scouts.

But others, including the largest sponsor, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, supported the proposal. Catholic Scouting leaders said lifting the ban did not conflict with their teachings.

After officials voted to lift the ban, they published new membership standards online clarifying frequently asked questions including: "Should special arrangements be made to accommodate youth in camp, on trips, or during events based on same-sex attraction?"

The answer, in part: "We are all Scouts and are accepting of all members of the Scouting family."

It took years for Tessier to earn the badges required to become an Eagle Scout. He served as troop scribe, patrol leader and assistant senior patrol leader, and designed his service project, restoring a brick walkway at a local Audubon Society. After Tessier and his mother spoke out against the ban, effectively outing him, he was sure he would lose his chance to become an Eagle Scout if the ban was not lifted.

"There was in fact a fear of being kicked out of Scouting because you were gay," Tessier said.

He said once the new policy was announced, two Scouts in his troop came out as gay.

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske

on

LA Times