The Boy Scouts Decide Not to Decide Today

Where, oh where is the end to the Boy Scouts gay ban?

If you were holding your breath for a decision from the Boy Scouts to drop their gay ban today, you might want to exhale. After “careful consideration and extensive dialogue,” reps from BSA announced that, “due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy.”

I sure would liked to have been a fly on the wall in that “closed-door” session this afternoon. It’s hard to believe the decision is actually split in half — especially considering that just this week gay and straight scout leaders delivered petitions signed by 1.4  million Americans who agree BSA’s anti-gay policy should be abolished. One. Point. Four. Million. Americans. And let’s not forget President Obama’s interview on 60 Minutes Sunday, when he said, “The Scouts are a great institution that are promoting young people and exposing them to opportunities and leadership that will serve people for the rest of their lives, and I think nobody should be barred from that.” Those are some big guns coming out on the right side of this issue. So what’s the hold up, dammit?

Looks like we won’t know much until the National Council meets again in May. Our only hope can be that BSA leaders are succumbing to the added pressure to do away with the ban altogether, as opposed to letting individual troops decide. I can see how this added consideration could spark a whole other realm of “extensive dialogue,” but come on, you old fogies, you’re on the wrong side of history and you know it. There’s no use putting it off any longer. Viva la gay Boy Scouts!

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