It's being reported today that the Boy Scouts of America is going to hold a vote to change their discriminatory policy to now allow gay scouts. However, they will maintain that gay adults will not be allowed to be leaders. Here's a quick story from Rachel Maddow's blog.
Great, so you can be a gay scout, achieve Eagle rank, be a member of the Order of the Arrow, Senior Patrol Leader, and as soon as you turn 18, you are barred from the organization in which you spent your youth working to earn those achievements.
Maybe the BSA thinks this is progress, and some fair minded people might give them credit for baby steps of progress. But I do not. The message behind this policy is the same. You are not wanted. Your 'lifestyle' is unacceptable, and you cannot be trusted around children.
Any boy who has come up through the ranks is still stigmatized and will be without gay or lesbian leaders as role models, and will know perfectly well to keep quiet. Ending the ban on gay scouts alone doesn't make it better for them. Period. End of story.
1:26 PM PT: Here's a link to the NY Times article which goes into greater detail.
PDX has a similar diary up. Check it out for more discussion.