I agree with your sentiment but word has it that this is cut in stone. All the national organization is doing is removing that requirement. Where local organizations can continue to maintain the ban, they will.
Where the will isn’t there, they won’t.
Our orgainization is chartered through a local United Methodist Church but serves, almost exclusively, a private school. Our meetings are at the school and all but a couple of boys go there. We were kicked out of the school for recruitment and for meetings for a short period because a lib parent made a huge scene about the ban.
It was only through negotiations and an agreement that we would not specifically ban gays were we allowed back in. We already had an agnostic scout leader and a proclaimed athiest kid so we signed the agreement.
If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be able to provide a positive influence to the many who wanted to participate.
I understand principles but the world is unfortunately different now. My choice was let the organization die for our principles or take the hit and still provide an opportunity for the kids to learn their own principles.
To be quite honest, I with the issue had never come up in the first place. Scouting here is all about crossbows and guns and the liberals tend to naturally stay away. And that's fine with me. But making it something gays can't touch, it's like a giant recruitment scheme once the ban gets lifted. Every liberal and homosexual in the area will suddenly want to sign up. Like I said, I don't think the thrill will last, scouting here is too conservative, but it's an annoyance we'll have to see ourselves through.
Our cub pack is chartered throught the Catholic parish because the public school gave us the heave ho a few years back. The older boy scouts are chartered through a Lutheran church, but there've been rumblings there and the Catholics might have to charter them too.