INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The 1,400 member National Council of the Boy Scouts of America voted Thursday in Texas to allow openly gay scouts.
The decision had the support of more than 60 percent of the voters and will take effect Jan. 1.
That’s too late for fallen Indianapolis EMT Tim McCormick, but it’s still a victory for him. McCormick was gay and an Eagle Scout.
He died in February when a car crashed into the ambulance he and his paramedic co-worker were riding in.
His mother is celebrating the Boy Scouts vote for him.
“He would have been so happy, so proud,” Rosemary McCormick told RTV6 from her home in New York. “He absolutely would have said, ‘about time.’”
Rosemary pushed for this change and wrote an open letter on her Facebook page in March. She said her son exemplified all the scouts stand for.
“He really didn’t come out until he was in high school, and it still didn’t make a difference,” she said. “He was admired and respected for his personal qualities, not his sexual orientation, which is exactly what today is all about.”
She told RTV6 today is both a victory and an acknowledgement –- an acknowledgement that gay males have been in the scouts for years.
She said gay leaders have been too, even though the organization still bans gay adult leaders and has no plans to address that issue.
“There have been gay scout leaders since the beginning. There are still and will be there in the future, and wouldn’t it be better to recognize them?” Rosemary said.
On the other side, many people oppose the decision, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
He said scouting is about teaching life lessons and sexuality isn’t one of them.
Republished with permission from Indy Channel