The Boy Scouts of America on Wednesday delayed a vote to lift the ban of members and leaders who are gay. The organization said they are delaying the decision "due to the complexity of the issue."
Locally, parents and scout masters are saying the delay in the vote isn't a bad thing, they feel this is a decision that can't be rushed.
The organization turns 103 years old on February 8, and during their existence, they have banned members and leaders who are gay. The group announced last week that they were considering on lifting the ban, and letting individual troops set their own policies.
We spoke parents and a scout master of Troop 52 in Erie. They said while many have their own opinions regarding this issue, this is something that the Boy Scouts must address.
"I think its something that's been considered in the Boy Scouts 100 year tradition," said Bill Marn, a father of two scouts in Troop 52. "But in this day and age, its becoming more prominent and more frequent. There's even cases where there's been discrimination, and its something that has to be dealt with."
Scout Master Brent Sesler said his troop hasn't talked about this issue yet. He said, locally there's not much they can do right now but wait on the word from the national level.
"At that point, we as a troop will have to make that decision, all the troops within the country will have to make that decision on what they do," said Sesler. "We all have our own individual opinions, but we all have to also focus on the fact of reality, too."
The decision to lift the ban or not is now expected to come in May when the 1,400 voting members will meet for their annual meeting.
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