The Boy Scouts of America Statement:

For 103 years, the Boy Scouts of America has been a part of the fabric of this nation, providing its youth program of character development and values-based leadership training. In the past two weeks, Scouting has received an outpouring of feedback from the American public. It reinforces how deeply people care about Scouting and how passionate they are about the organization.

After careful consideration and extensive dialogue within the Scouting family, along with comments from those outside the organization, the volunteer officers of the Boy Scouts of America’s National Executive Board concluded that due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy.

To that end, the executive board directed its committees to further engage representatives of Scouting’s membership and listen to their perspectives and concerns. This will assist the officers’ work on a resolution on membership standards. The approximately 1,400 voting members of the national council will take action on the resolution at the national meeting in May 2013.

The Baltimore Area Council Statement:

The volunteer members of the BSA National Executive Board voted Wednesday, February 6th to delay a decision on removing the national membership restriction on sexual orientation for youth and adult members.

The Baltimore Area Council will continue business as usual, focusing on our young people, which is entirely our mission of positive youth development. Parents and chartered partners have always decided and will always decide who they want their Scout leaders to be. The Baltimore Area Council expects appropriate behavior from any leader, and we work at all times to keep the focus on the young people we serve.

You are welcome to express your views to Baltimore Area Council at feedback@baltimorebsa.org

Click here for a Letter to Parents from Chief Scout Executive Wayne Brock