The Boy Scouts of America are considering retracting its ban on gay scouts and scout leaders, according to several reports.
The Boy Scouts are "discussing potentially removing the national membership restriction regarding sexual orientation," Deron Smith, director of public relations for the Boy Scouts of America, told CNN.
A report on NBCNews.com, which quoted unnamed scouting officials, said that if the national board of directors drops the ban, local scout councils will be free to determine if they will admit gay scouts.
Admitting gay scouts and permitting gay leaders would have particular resonance in the Philadelphia area. The local scout organization, the Cradle of Liberty Council, sued the City of Philadelphia in 2008 after the city threatened to evict them from their city-owned building the group had occupied since 1928 on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The city maintained that any organization that discriminated against any group could not receive municipal benefits.
