An alternative program to the Boy
Scouts will allow openly gay youths and adults who don't “flaunt
it.”
A policy change which takes effect on
January 1 will allow openly gay youth, but not adults, to participate
in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).
Opponents of the recent decision are in
the progress of forming an alternative youth program.
John Stemberger, founder of the
Florida-based OnMyHonor.net, a group which lobbied against the policy
change, told NBC News that his program, which has yet to be named,
will be open to gay youths and adults.
“If a young man has a same-sex
attraction he would not be turned away in the program, but he's not
going to be allowed to kind of openly flaunt it and carry a rainbow
flag,” Stemberger
said. “There is not going to be any kind of witch hunt in our
organization for people and what their sexual orientations are.
We're going to focus on sexual purity, not sexual orientation.”
Stemberger said that more than 30,000
people have expressed interest in the faith-based alternative.
The group will hold its first national
convention in Nashville in September.