It was unclear Monday what the Boy Scouts of America’s announcement concerning allowing gay Scouts and leaders will mean for South Sound units.
The organization said it might give individual troop sponsors the authority to decide whether gays can serve as Scouts and leaders in local units.
Calls to the Pacific Harbors Council that oversees Scouting in southwestern Washington and to four of the eight districts it oversees were not returned Monday.
One of the local packs that might be affected by any change in policy is Roy-area Pack 634, which is sponsored by the American Legion.
Kim Johnston is the pack’s Cub Scout mother; her husband is the group’s cub master. Their son is a Scout in the pack.
If the national organization makes the change, the pack’s policy would be up to the American Legion, she said.
“It’s whatever they (the national organization and sponsors) decide to go with,” she said. “It’s not up to us. If the American Legion comes to us and says, ‘Absolutely not,’ then we respect that.”
The pack hadn’t spoken with its sponsor as of Monday about what would happen if the national policy changes, Johnston said.
Asked for a way to contact the pack’s sponsor, Johnston said she would notify them for The News Tribune. No call was received from the sponsor Monday.
Decisions by the national organization and local sponsor wouldn’t necessarily reflect their family’s personal views, she said.
“As far as my husband and I are concerned, it doesn’t matter if they’re gay and lesbian,” she said. “As long as they follow the rules, they don’t push their beliefs on other families and the kids, then they’re welcome to be with us.”
Johnston said Boy Scout troops and Cub Scout packs have individual values and focuses, which can be influenced by the sponsors. Pack 634 goes above and beyond to accommodate families with special-needs children, she said.
“A lot of packs and troops, they don’t want children with disabilities, because they’re harder to deal with and some of them need really special attention,” she said. “Some packs go for that, some packs will only take military families; it’s very different. It’s whatever the charter wants to do.”
Alexis Krell: 253-597-8268alexis.krell@thenewstribune.com
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