Largest Council in BSA Responds to Sexual Orientation Discussion
Utah National Parks Council to Support Youth and Chartered Partners
OREM, Utah, Feb. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Utah National Parks Council, the nation's largest Council of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), released a response to the BSA's Executive Board discussion and subsequent postponement of a vote to potentially change the policy governing the national membership restriction regarding sexual orientation. In the response, the Council expressed its support of the Board's decision to postpone the vote to allow more time, discussion and analysis.
The Utah National Parks Council last week joined a coalition of 33 councils representing 539,837 youth members, who expressed concern over the pace of discussion among the BSA Board of Directors to potentially remove the national membership restriction regarding sexual orientation.
As part of the coalition, the Utah National Parks Council encouraged the Board to delay the final vote on such a reversal to allow other stakeholder voices to be heard and to provide a more thorough analysis of what the impact would be to local councils.
The Utah National Parks Council also reiterated its long-standing support for its youth, its local chartered partners and the BSA mission.
"The units in our Council are sponsored by local chartered partners, which include major area churches, service clubs, community civic groups and organizations," said John N. Gailey, spokesman for the Utah National Parks Council. "Our Council's objective is to support the decisions of these local chartered partners. That's true now, and it will remain true in the future."
Utah National Parks Council and BSA Mission
The Utah National Parks Council is the largest BSA Council in the United States with 6,079 units comprised of 83,827 youth, and 43,836 adult volunteers. The Council supports the mission of the BSA, which is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices during their lifetimes by instilling the values of the Scout Oath and Law.
In so doing, the BSA provides programs designed to build character, train youth in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, develop personal fitness, develop leadership skills, and to combine educational activities and values with fun.
The Utah National Parks Council remains dedicated to its leadership role in the BSA to provide the resources, funding, activities, training and programs needed to give all youth, volunteer leaders and BSA units the greatest experience possible.
Additional information is available at www.utahscouts.org and www.scouting.org.
Contact:
John N. Gailey
Utah National Parks Council – Boy Scouts of America
801-437-6233
[email protected]
SOURCE Utah National Parks Council - Boy Scouts of America
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