More than 60 elected officials from
Texas have signed on to an open letter calling on the Boy Scouts of
America (BSA) to keep its ban on openly gay scouts and leaders.
BSA leaders were set to vote on a
proposal which would lift the national ban and allow local chapters
to decide the issue. Instead, the BSA announced last month that it
would allow the 1,400 voting members of the national council to
decide the issue when they meet in May.
“As state elected officials, we
strongly encourage the Boy Scouts of America to stick with their
decades of support for family values and moral principles,” the
letter states. “Capitulating to the liberal social agenda not
only undermines the very principles of scouting, but sets the stage
for the erosion of an organization that has defined the American
experience for generations of young men.”
“[T]he contemplated national policy
would throw to the wolves chartering organizations and scout troops
that choose to stick with scouting's historic and legally protected
policy.”
“Rest assured that while adopting
this ill-considered and wrongly devised policy might earn temporary
kudos, you can never do enough to appease those who want to see the
scouts robbed of their moral authority.”
Tony Perkins, president of the
Christian conservative Family Research Council (FRC), praised the
group's action in an email to supporters.
“Gov. Rick Perry, and now over 60
fellow elected officials in Texas, are showing the Boy Scouts that
they're not alone in standing for their values,” Perkins said. “As
leaders from the Boy Scouts organization meet in Texas, we hope that
seeing the solidarity of so many Texas leaders will encourage them to
reaffirm their current policy on homosexuality.”