(LE MARS, IA) - Boy Scouts across the U.S. may have the chance to be open about their sexual orientation. The Boy Scouts of America released a statement Monday saying it's talking about getting rid of the national ban against gay members and leaders.
From what the Chairman of the War Eagle District in Siouxland and an eagle scout understand, the decision will be left up to local groups. They both said the pledge of the Boy Scouts is to respect everyone.
"The younger generations seem to want to be more welcoming and less divisive and think that every young man and in some instances with our venture crews, young women, should have an opportunity to have access to scouts irrespective of those kinds of things," said Jeffrey Neary, the Chairman for the War Eagle District for Mid America Boy Scouts.
Neary has worked for nearly 20 years to guide the district in its leadership, programs and membership to name a few.
"I cannot recall ever where the issue has been presented or confronted in any way since that period of time," said Neary.
For scouts who've gone through training, they have learned a number of lessons.
"It takes lots of different people, lots of different types of people and beliefs to make different leaders," said eagle scout, Derek Christoffel.
"The step in the right direction is to return that back to the local control because it respects those differences in opinions and allows the local charter organization to have a valuable discussion with their troupe leadership and decide how they want to do it," said Neary.
Ultimately, both believe anyone should have the chance to be a scout.
"It doesn't matter what you look like, what your skin color is. If you want to be in scouting, I believe that you should be able to," said Christoffel.
Siouxland Mental Health also touched on this issue. From a cultural standpoint, gay marriage and the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy have both made headlines recently.
Jessica Clausen, a social worker in Siouxland, said it seems policy makers are the ones who have a problem with being open about sexual orientation, not the younger generations who are more directly impacted by these policies and bans.
"I think that every organization has to change with the times or they get left behind and the changing of the times has become... Sexual orientation is not an issue that people care about. We care about people's character. We care about how we treat others. We care about kindness. We don't care about who they're partnering up with," said Clausen.
A spokesman for the boy scouts said the policy change is still in the works, but it could take effect as early as next week.
