So in all my years at GA, this is my first blog that I have done Since it is politically sensitive it had to go here instead of a Lounge topic.

Thursday marked what I consider a monumental change in the way gay rights is viewed in the US.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/24/us-usa-boyscouts-ban-vote-idUSBRE94M1A320130524

I personally know of some members here at GA that have tried to help American Scouts to get their Eagle Scout badge after they were kicked out for being gay. So much that they applied to the Boy Scouts of Canada to recognize them for what they surely deserve.

One very interesting part of the article:

About 70 percent of the group's 100,000 Boy Scout units are chartered by faith-based organizations, according to Boy Scouts membership data. Some 22 percent of the units nationwide are chartered by civic organizations, and 7 percent are chartered by educational groups.

 

One of the major turning points in the debate came earlier this year when the Mormon church - the largest sponsor of scouting troops nationwide - expressed support for ending the ban. The Mormon church charters nearly 38,000 scout troops representing nearly a quarter million scouts.

 

The next largest faith-based sponsor is the United Methodist Church, which charters about 11,000 troops representing about 363,000 scouts. They, too, issued a statement supporting an end to the ban. The Catholic church, which sponsors about 8,400 troops, has taken no official position on the controversy.

I can't help but feel a feeling of hope to see the Church of Latter Day Saints and the United Methodist Church voting in FAVOUR or lifting the ban as a very, very positive step. Hopefully it is a new direction of the LDS church which traditionally opposed any rights of the GLBT community.

The absence of the Catholic Church's opinion is expected as they have agreed that GLBT people are welcomed into the church as long as they don't practice behaviours that the Church frowns on. Although I openly oppose this rule of their Church, by them not opposing it, it appears they are making small strides in what I consider the right direction.

The change.org petition which led the largest corporate sponsors to threaten withdrawal of monetary support (Intel, UPS, etc.) must have had a very major and impacting message to the Boy Scouts of America.

I agree with the final sentiments of the article that the ban on openly gay leaders could fall in the near future. After all the petitions for the removal of the ban on gay scouts garnered 1.8 million signatures against the 250,000 signatures to keep the status quo.

I know it is sometimes hard to recognize some organizations that our community tends to disagree with but I'm willing to congradulate the LDS and UMC for making what I think is a historical first steps towards equality of all with no basis on Age, Gender, Religion and Sexual Identification. Bravo!