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The largest Boy Scout council in the country responded to the call for volunteers issued by the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee, but the welcome mat was rolled up and the door slammed in its face.
Olympic spokesmen for the 2002 winter games say the exclusion has nothing to do with recent protests by gay activists.

While the organizing committee for the Olympic event is prominently displaying a call for local volunteers, they have explicitly let it be known that the Boy Scouts need not apply.

“For us not to be involved is discouraging, considering the Atlanta games. The Scouting council there was extremely involved,” said Kay Godfrey, professional Scout executive for the Great Salt Lake Council of Boy Scouts.

A number of executives and volunteers from the council have worked for many months with Salt Lake Olympic officials under the assumption that the Boy Scouts would participate in Olympic ceremonies – until recently.

Boy Scouts were seen in many of the venues at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, and they participated in a number of ceremonies there.

Salt Lake Scouts expected the same opportunity in 2002, particularly because Utah is so supportive of the BSA program. About 45 percent of the population of Utah belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest sponsor of Scout units in the country.

At a recent training event for Scout leaders, Marty Latimer, chief Scout executive for the council, revealed that the Scouts are no longer welcome.

“We don’t understand what’s wrong. They just don’t want us and won’t talk to us,” said Latimer.

He told NewsMax.com that Mitt Romney, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Olympic Committee, has not returned phone calls from a number of Scout officials who have tried to obtain clarification.

Latimer and other Scout leaders say they are confused because Romney is a former Scout and Scout Leader and a prominent member of the LDS Church.

Despite many attempts to work out a solution, Romney has not returned calls to the Scout leaders after months of attempting to negotiate with him.

“We also lost a great opportunity to house workers for the Olympics at Camp Tracy,” said Latimer, referring to a local scout facility.

A plan had been established to build a dormitory to house food service workers, but that group has also indicated they no longer plan to use Camp Tracy. No explanation was given to the Scouts for the change of plans.

R. Lawry Hunsaker, council president, told NewsMax.com he was surprised that Romney has ignored Scout leaders.

“We can’t get him to return our calls,” he said.

Hunsaker said other spokesmen from the Olympic committee have indicated to him that Scouts in uniform will not be permitted to volunteer at the Winter Olympics.

The Scouts are not the only ones having difficulty talking with Romney.

Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, told NewsMax.com that he waited for some time to get a personal response from Romney on the issue, but a public affairs person called instead.

Cannon is a strong supporter of the Boy Scouts and joined with others to found a Web site that collects money to help Scout groups whose funding has been cut because of their decision not to allow gay scoutmasters.

Cannon’s congressional district represents the Great Salt Lake Council.

“We were told it’s just an age-limit thing. The Scouts aren’t old enough to volunteer,” Cannon told NewsMax.com

Romney would not return calls to NewsMax.com.

“Our state has a strong volunteer heritage that has endured – like the Olympic Spirit – for generations,” said Romney in a published appeal for volunteers.

“The 2002 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will provide a chance for thousands of Utahns to participate through volunteering. And it is only through volunteer support that we can succeed in 2002.”

Although Romney would not respond to repeated requests for an interview, Olympic Committee spokeswoman Caroline Shaw did call to deny that the Scouts have been turned away because of the gay controversy.

“The reality is we would love to take those volunteers, but we have an age requirement of our volunteers. I believe it’s 18,” Shaw said in a phone interview.

She said Scouts and their adult leaders were welcome to apply as volunteers individually on their own, as long as they don’t apply as a group representing the Boy Scouts.

They also may not work as a volunteer if they wear a Scout uniform, she said.

NewsMax.com learned that the claim of age is not quite accurate. There are children under 18 who will be a part of the Olympic ceremonies, but Olympic officials do not consider them to be volunteers. Instead they are called “cast members.”

“You know, they can certainly go on line and apply. That’s the one area where we are looking for younger adults and children to participate, and they can submit requests through going online to be cast members and so forth,” Shaw said in a phone interview.

Cast members participating in Olympic events may not wear Scout uniforms, she explained.

“We have had some Scouts participate with us already doing some cleanup out at Soldier Hollow and other areas,” said Shaw in an effort to show that Scouts can volunteer. The litter cleanup by Scouts in uniform was a one-time event and was limited to only a few participants.

The Greater Salt Lake Council has approximately 80,000 Scouts of various ages, and 35,000 adult leaders.

Latimer said he found it difficult to believe that Romney doesn’t welcome such a volunteer force, and one that has represented so well the American people.

Godfrey said he was still hopeful that something can be worked out.

“I just think that the committee needs to be aware that we’re here and still willing and we’d like to do something – perhaps more than litter detail,” said Godfrey. “We’re here and we’d like to help if there’s something that we can do.”

Shaw continued to say the only reason Boy Scouts could not be volunteers at the Olympics was because of their age, but she did not address why Scout leaders in uniform were not accepted.

“I’m sure we have volunteers, a large percentage of them have been former Boy Scouts, including our president and CEO [Romney],” Shaw explained.

“I don’t think we’re in a position to give every organization out there official status. There’s the Girl Guides and the Girl Scouts; I don’t know, there must be at least a million youth groups out there,” said Shaw.

“They’re a fabulous organization, but there are a lot of great organizations out there,” she added.

Shaw promised to get additional details and call back the next day, but three weeks have gone by with no further contact. NewsMax.com made numerous efforts to speak with her again, but she has not responded. Romney has also ignored requests for an interview.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that the Boy Scouts of America is a private organization that has the right to restrict who is and who is not an adult leader. The Scouts have always refused to permit openly gay individuals to be leaders or members.

Gay activists have since targeted the Boy Scouts, including public protests.

Some groups have succeeded in getting many United Way chapters to remove funding from local Scout councils. Some community organizations have begun to deny the Scouts access to public facilities and property on the grounds that they say the Scouts discriminate.