Zach Wahls on Wednesday delivered more
than 275,000 signatures to the Boy Scouts of America calling on the
group to reinstate Jennifer Tyrrell, the Ohio mom who in April was
ousted as den leader of her son's Boy Scout troop because she is a
lesbian.
The 32-year-old Tyrrell launched a
Change.org
campaign to bring awareness to the Boy Scouts' policy banning openly
gay scouts and leaders after she was removed
from her volunteer position because she failed to meet the
group's “high standards of conduct” in relation to her being in a
5 year relationship with another woman.
Wahls, an Eagle Scout and gay rights
ally, met with Deron Smith, public relations director with the Boy
Scouts of America's national office, after delivering the signatures.
“While today's meeting was productive
and thoughtful, the delivery of these petitions marks the beginning
of this journey, not the end,” Wahls said. “I thought our
dialogue today was an honest one, and I'm looking forward to
continuing the conversation in the months ahead. We leave today one
step closer to religious and personal freedom than when we arrived,
and it's hard to be anything but thrilled about that.”
“I am so grateful for the support
I've received from Zach and from the thousands of scouts, scout
leaders and former scouts who have signed my petition,” Tyrrell
said. “If you look at the petition comments, and read through
the thousands of entries left by current scouts and scout leaders,
it's clear that the energy within the Boy Scouts of America's
membership is there to change this policy. All it takes now is
leadership.”
Wahls is the University of Iowa student
who defended his two-mom family at an Iowa House hearing considering
a proposed measure which would repeal the state's gay marriage law by
defining marriage as a heterosexual union in the Iowa Constitution.
A video of Wahls' testimony attracted more than 18.3 million views to
become the most-watched video in 2011.
(Related: Jennifer
Tyrrell “moved” by Boy Scouts board member David Sims'
resignation.)