Boy Scouts Executive Committee Endorses Ending Ban on Gay Leaders

The executive committee of the Boy Scouts of America has unanimously approved a resolution that would drop the group’s blanket ban on openly gay leaders, a key step that puts the organization on the verge of its second historic shift in three years.

While the proposed change stops short of requiring all Scout units to allow gay leaders, it would dismantle a rule that the group’s president described earlier this year as an existential threat to the 105-year-old institution.

This resolution, approved on Friday, now goes to the organization’s national executive board. If the group ratifies the change during a meeting on July 27, it would become official Scouts policy.