Connecticut Boy Scout Council Will Allow Gays

By Paul Petrone
 The Boy Scouts of America's Connecticut Yankee Council, which runs camps in several towns and has members from dozens more communities, is breaking with the national Boy Scouts in announcing that it will now allow gays. 

The move, which comes just days before thousands of Boy Scout leaders will convene in a national meeting in Dallas, conflicts with the Boy Scouts of America's increasingly controversial national policy banning gays.

On Friday, Connecticut Yankee Council President Michael Abrahamson posted a letter on the council's website entitled "Scouting is for Everyone." In it, he explains why his council will no longer ban openly gay members.

"Scouting in the Connecticut Yankee Council is open to all youth and adults who subscribe to the values of the Scout Oath and Law regardless of their personal sexual orientation," Abrahamson wrote. "All our Scouts and leaders must display the highest levels of good conduct and any sexual conduct within Scouting is unacceptable. Our charter partners retain the responsibility to select the best possible leadership for their units consistent with their moral values."

The council has districts that cover most of the western shoreline of Connecticut, starting in Madison, and runs camps in North Haven and Killingworth. 

The group GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which has lobbied for the Boy Scouts to repeal its ban on gays, heralded the Connecticut Council's decision as "courageous."

"The Connecticut Yankee Council has taken a courageous move in favor of equality for Scouts and adult leaders. By allowing any qualified youth and adult to participate, regardless of sexual orientation, the Council is demonstrating that fairness is more important than fear," said Rich Ferraro, a GLAAD spokesman. "We hope that the Boy Scouts of America will follow their lead and listen to a majority of Americans who believe Scouting should be open to all."

Thursday, at the Boy Scouts of America's headquarters in Texas, 1,400  Scout leaders are expected to vote on whether to allow openly gay children into the Boy Scouts, according to the Associated Press. The organization is not expected to lift its ban on homosexual adults from volunteering or working for the organization, according to the Washington Post.