Largest Boy Scout group in Minnesota (75,000 Scouts) will stay inclusive!

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Despite national policy banning gays, the largest Boy Scout group in Minnesota will stay inclusive (http://www.startribune.com/local/west/1 ... ml?refer=y)

• Article by: KELLY SMITH , Star Tribune

• Updated: July 18, 2012 - 2:46 PM

Northern Star Council welcomes gay Scouts as BSA reaffirms policy to bar "open, avowed homosexuals." (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/us/bo ... mbers.html)

Minnesota's biggest Boy Scout group said Tuesday that gays and lesbians remain welcome in its troops, despite a national announcement that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) will continue to bar leaders, employees and members who are "open or avowed homosexuals."

"We're a reflection of the community," said Kent York, spokesman for the Northern Star Council, which has 75,000 Scouts in Minnesota and western Wisconsin. "Our commitment has been to reach out to all young people and have a positive influence."

York said that the Twin Cities-based Scout council, one of the nation's largest, will continue to follow a 12-year-old "inclusive leadership selection" practice.

When asked how they could differ from the national policy, York said that it had "worked for us."

"Every council is reflective of their community," he said. The national policy says that while the Boy Scouts do not "proactively inquire about the sexual orientation of employees, volunteers or members, we do not grant membership to individuals who are open or avowed homosexuals or who engage in behavior that would become a distraction to the mission of the BSA."

The national organization, based in Texas, decided to stand by the policy after an 11-member committee spent two years reviewing it.

In a statement Tuesday, national officials announced that they unanimously agreed to keep the long-standing policy despite protests because it "remains in the best interest of scouting" and "reflects the beliefs and perspectives" of its members.