Long Beach Boy Scouts Announce Vote to Allow Gay Youth

The Long Beach Area Boy Scouts Council, representing thousands of local youth, announced to its families Thursday that the national organization had voted to allow homosexual youth to join.

In a letter e-mailed to local scout families, the Long Beach scout leadership praised the decision, saying, "Each of the 280 local councils were represented with at least three votes of the 1,400 total votes. The Long Beach Area Council had three of those votes and cast them based on the representative vote of the board of directors who based their decision on feedback from our local audience, and a determination of what is in the best interest of Scouting in our council.

"This approved resolution will allow us to continue to deliver our excellent Scouting program to current members and to extend to every interested youth. We are also incredibly grateful for the feedback from our Scouting community, and appreciate the diversity of thought and the civility in which we had this internal conversation."
Read more about the national vote to lift the ban on gay membership into the Boy Scouts of America, and background news, click here. 

The Gay Inclusive Scouting Network cheered the vote, and is selling rainbow square knot award resembling a traditional merit badge. Thanking readers, it noted that the campaign is not over:

"Starting in January, gay and bisexual Scouts across the country will be free from the fear of being kicked out, but only while they are youth members. Upon transitioning into adult leadership, youth who proudly served as Scouts will be shown the door. Friends, our work is no where near done.We have a tremendous amount of work to do to ensure the Boy Scouts implement appropriate policies and safeguards against bullying and harassment before their policy goes into full effect next year." 

The Long Beach Area Boy Scouts Council letter in full:

To: Long Beach Area Council Scouting Families and Supporters
From: Long Beach Area Council, Boy Scouts of America
Date: 23 May 2013
Re:  Membership Standards Vote Dear Scouting families and supporters: 

On Thursday May 23 the Boy Scouts of America held their national annual meeting and eligible voting members passed a resolution that will change the membership policy to allow gay youth as members of the Scouting program. Youth membership in the Boy Scouts of America is open to all youth who meet the specific membership requirements to join the Cub Scout, BoyScout, Varsity Scout, Sea Scout, and Venturing programs. Membership in any program of the Boy Scouts of America requires the youth member to (a) subscribe to and abide by the values expressed in the Scout Oath and Scout Law, (b) subscribe to and abide by the precepts of the Declaration of Religious Principle (duty to God), and (c) demonstrate behavior that exemplifies the highest level of good conduct and respect for others and is consistent at all times with the values expressed in the Scout Oath and Scout Law. No youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone. This resolution was proposed after an exhaustive process of listening to internal and external audiences, alumni, donors and staff.  Each of the 280 local councils were represented with at least three votes of the 1,400 total votes.  The Long Beach Area Council had three of those votes and cast them based on the representative vote of the board of directors who based their decision on feedback from our local audience and a determination of what is in the best interest of Scouting in our council. This approved resolution will allow us to continue to deliver our excellent Scouting program to current members and to extend to every interested youth. We are also incredibly grateful for the feedback from our Scouting community, and appreciate the diversity of thought and the civility in which we had this internal conversation.  We are committed to moving forward and delivering a quality Scouting program to our community so that young people today can benefit from the Scouting program that had developed leaders of our country for more than a century.