Boy Scouts, After Secret Review, Reaffirms Ban On Gays

HOUSTON — The Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday reaffirmed the organization's policy of excluding gays, despite recent protest campaigns by members, including some of the group's board.

The announcement came after a confidential two-year review by an 11-member special committee formed by Scout leaders in 2010, a spokesman said.

Spokesman Deron Smith, based at the Boy Scouts' headquarters outside Dallas, declined to identify members of the committee, but said in a statement sent to the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday that they represented "a diversity of perspectives and opinions."

According to the statement, the special committee "came to the conclusion that this policy is absolutely the best policy for the Boy Scouts."

"The review included forthright and candid conversation and extensive research and evaluations - both from within Scouting and from outside of the organization," the statement said.

The special committee included professional Boy Scouts executives and adult volunteers, according to the statement, and was unanimous in its recommendation to preserve scouting's long-standing policy, upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000.

As a result of the committee's recommendation, the Boy Scouts' executive board will take no further action on a recently submitted resolution asking for reconsideration of the membership policy, according to the statement.

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