'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America

Openly gay youths can join the Boy Scouts of America, its voting members decided Thursday, though gay leaders promptly called the change in the century-old program for boys and teens inadequate and vowed to continue to pressure the Scouts to go further.

A pivotal vote on the Boy Scouts of America's membership policy is still two weeks away, but advocates for and against admitting openly gay youth are busy making their cases.

The early verdicts are in and the Boy Scouts of America's proposed new membership policy pleases no one.
The opinion piece "Boy Scouts waver over their oath of honor" (Friday) incorrectly described Zach Wahls, founder of Scouts for Equality, as a homosexual Eagle Scout. Mr. Wahls considers himself part of the LGBT community but is not a homosexual.

Twelve years ago, Bryant Gumbel called me an (expletive) idiot on CBS' "The Early Show" for defending the Boy Scouts after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed their right to uphold moral standards for leaders and members.
Zach Wahls, founder of Scouts for Equality and son of two lesbian mothers, said he wasn't satisfied either.
"I got into this fight for my parents, and I want to finish this fight for my parents," he said, according to a CBS-TV affiliate in Dallas.