The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Tuesday ended its century-old alliance with the Boy Scouts of America, pledging to place hundreds of thousands of its boys into a gospel-focused youth program instead. The move, which will put an 18.5 percent dent in the youth organization’s membership, follows moves by the Boy Scouts to allow girls into the traditionally all-boy program as well as openly gay troop leaders. The Mormon church, which opposes gay marriage, said it was “deeply troubled” by that decision at the time. The church said it now plans to create its own youth program similar to the Boy Scouts that will begin in 2020 and help members “develop life skills and fulfill their divine roles as daughters and sons of God.”
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