Are there gay Boy Scouts

Answer 1

The Boy Scouts do not require sexual orientation to be declared when joining, so there are no doubt Boy Scouts who are gay.

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The BSA prohibits adult leaders who are open or avowed homosexuals. It also prohibits youth who are openly gay from holding leadership positions (i.e. Senior Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader, etc.). It does not have any specific policy regarding youth who are non-leader members, so presumably they would not be prohibited. The BSA does not inquire into the sexuality of members upon application; the policy only applies to those who are openly homosexual. However, there have been anecdotal reports of leaders who were removed based upon reports of others. (See linked article). The original contributor is correct that there are likely youth members who are either open or secretly homosexual, as well as adults who are not open.

Answer 2

There have been over two million Eagle Scouts so the odds are some of them have been gay. The BSA generally do not welcome gays, although the prohibition is not as strict for the Scouts as it is for the leaders, so the Scout would usually have to not be open about it.

The BSA's policies are:

● Volunteer Adult Leadership

Boy Scouts of America believes that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the obligations in the Scout Oath and Law to be morally straight and clean in thought, word, and deed. Scouting's position with respect to homosexual conduct accords with the moral positions of many millions of Americans and with religious denominations to which a majority of Americans belong. Because of these views, Boy Scouts of America believes that a known or avowed homosexual is not an appropriate role model of the Scout Oath and Law for adolescent boys.

● Employment

With respect to positions limited to professional Scouters or, because of their close relationship to the mission of Scouting, positions limited to registered members of the Boy Scouts of America, acceptance of the Declaration of Religious Principle, the Scout Oath, and the Scout Law is required. Accordingly, in the exercise of its constitutional right to bring the values of Scouting to youth members, Boy Scouts of America will not employ atheists, agnostics, known or avowed homosexuals, or others as professional Scouters or in other capacities in which such employment would tend to interfere with its mission of reinforcing the values of the Scout Oath and the Scout Law in young people.

● Youth Leadership

Boy Scouts of America believes that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the obligations in the Scout Oath and Scout Law to be morally straight and clean in thought, word, and deed. The conduct of youth members must be in compliance with the Scout Oath and Law, and membership in Boy Scouts of America is contingent upon the willingness to accept Scouting's values and beliefs. Most boys join Scouting when they are 10 or 11 years old. As they continue in the program, all Scouts are expected to take leadership positions. In the unlikely event that an older boy were to hold himself out as homosexual, he would not be able to continue in a youth leadership position.