SAME OLD SCOUTS

Boy Scouts Maintain Ban on Gays

Two-year review culminates in same policy.

Well, give the group points for consistency, at least. After a two-year internal review and relentless pressure to reform its stance on excluding gays, the Boy Scouts of America has decided instead to reaffirm it. An 11-member confidential committee convened in 2010 recently reached the decision unanimously, coming to the conclusion that “this policy is absolutely the best policy for the Boy Scouts,” as the Scouts’ national spokesman, Deron Smith, put it. The ban will continue to apply to both scout leaders and scouts, and will put pressure on national executive board member and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, who has indicated he hopes to reform the organization’s stance and who is scheduled to become president of its national board in 2014.