Utah group to start Boy Scout troop welcoming gay leaders

SALT LAKE CITY -- Days after the Boy Scouts of America lifted a blanket ban on gay leaders, a Utah group that pressed for the legalization of gay marriage in the state announced Tuesday it will sponsor a Boy Scout troop.

Mark Lawrence with the group Restore Our Humanity said getting the troop approved and running might be an uphill battle in conservative Utah, where most troops are sponsored by the Mormon church. But he noted the new troop could be a model for the future.

"I think it's important for us to do this now," Lawrence said at a news conference. He added welcoming gay leaders could create new interest in the organization.

Lawrence said he has heard from several potential volunteers, including doctors, police officers and a rabbi.

Organizers plan to complete an application in the coming weeks and hope to have a troop up and running by fall. The Boy Scouts' Great Salt Lake Council said in a statement it appreciates the group's interest, and the group will have to submit its application to the national office for approval.

While the lifting of the ban July 27 prompted some gay Eagle Scouts around the country to rejoin the movement, the reaction was different at the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The nation's largest sponsor of Boy Scout units said it was deeply troubled by the decision, which it described as inconsistent with the church's teachings and the Boy Scouts' traditional values. The policy change allows church-sponsored Scout units to maintain the exclusion for religious reasons.

The Mormon church, which serves more than 427,000 boys in nearly 38,000 Scout units, is considering breaking away to form its own worldwide scouting organization. Officials have said they will meet later this month to discuss their next steps.

Several other denominations that collectively sponsor close to half of all Scout units also have been apprehensive about ending the ban on gay adults, including the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Convention.

But other churches look forward to the change, said the Rev. Curtis Price of the First Baptist Church of Salt Lake City.

"I'm not going to sponsor an organization that's going to exclude any of our people based on sexual orientation," he said.

Being gay doesn't take away the ability to be a good mentor or teacher for young people, Price said. The decision to allow gay leaders removes a strain on the relationship with the Boy Scouts for congregations like his, he added.

Scouting is an important place for boys to learn outdoor skills, teamwork and leadership, Utah activist Charles Frost said.

"I learned how to be a leader largely due to scouting," Frost said.

Lawrence said the new Salt Lake City-based troop would be welcoming to a wide range of people, especially those from minority groups.

The Boy Scouts decided to allow openly gay youth in 2013, but not gay adults or leaders.

That changed when the organization's National Executive Board voted to end the blanket ban, although leaders pledged to defend the right of any church-sponsored units to continue excluding gays as adult volunteers.

Restore Our Humanity was started to mount a challenge to Utah's ban on same-sex marriage, which was overturned in 2013 court ruling.