The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) on Wednesday announced it would not
cut ties with the Boy Scouts over its new policy allowing openly gay
troop leaders.
The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) last
month announced an end to its ban on openly gay adult leaders,
employees and volunteers.
While troops run by churches can
continue to “choose adult leaders whose beliefs are consistent with
their own,” the Mormon Church threatened to leave the organization
over the policy change.
“The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints is deeply troubled by today's vote by the Boy
Scouts of America National Executive Board,” the Mormon Church said
in a written statement. “In spite of a request to delay the vote,
it was scheduled at a time in July when members of the Church’s
governing councils are out of their offices and do not meet. When
the leadership of the Church resumes its regular schedule of meetings
in August, the century-long association with Scouting will need to be
examined.”
Senior leaders of the Mormon Church
said Wednesday that they decided against cutting ties with the Boy
Scouts over the policy after getting assurances that they can appoint
troop leaders consistent with their values.
“At this time, the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints will go forward as a chartering
organization of BSA, and as in the past, will appoint Scout leaders
and volunteers who uphold and exemplify Church doctrine, values and
standards,” the church said in a
statement.
Zach Wahls, executive director of
Scouts for Equality, applauded the move.
“We are heartened by the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' decision to continue working with
the Boy Scouts of America and to continue offering the program to its
young men,” Wahls said in a statement. “We have maintained from
the beginning of our campaign that the values and life lessons of
Scouting are universal, and we would have been saddened to see
hundreds of thousands of youth denied the opportunity to participate
in the Boy Scouts. We hope to continue to work to build a stronger
and more welcoming Boy Scouts of America with friends and allies
across the religious and political spectrum.”