Compared with May 2013, John Carman's phone has been quiet the past couple of days.
Two years ago, when the Boy Scouts of America decided to end its policy banning gay youths, the Scouting executive for the Quapaw Area Council -- which serves troops in 39 central and northeast Arkansas counties -- was taking a lot of phone calls, many of them expressing opposition.
But after the organization's decision Monday to go a step further and lift the ban on gay adult leaders, Carman said he had heard from very few Arkansans.
"There was so much more conversation and contention two years ago," he said Tuesday. "We had 50 volunteers leave because of the decision then. That's not happened this time around. I haven't heard of anyone leaving."
Carman believes this decision is less contentious because religious groups sponsoring Scout troops still have authority. The new policy, which was voted on by the group's National Executive Committee, allows church-sponsored groups to select unit leaders who align with their beliefs, even if that means reserving the positions for heterosexual men only.
About 85 percent of the troops under the Quapaw Area Council -- or 340 out of 400 -- are sponsored by a church, Carman said.
On Monday, the Association of Baptists for Scouting issued a statement establishing that the association recognizes homosexual relationships as "contradictory to Biblical teachings." The statement urged Baptist churches to "start or continue Scouting programs, and to have them led by adults who are faithful to the moral beliefs of that congregation, thereby aiding in the spiritual development of our youth."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints also issued an official statement Monday expressing that the church "is deeply troubled" by the vote. Although the statement said the Mormon church has always welcomed all boys -- regardless of sexual orientation -- the admission of openly gay leaders is "inconsistent with the doctrines of the Church and what have traditionally been the values of the Boy Scouts of America."
Humans Right Campaign President Chad Griffin supported the vote, calling it a "welcome step toward erasing a stain on this important organization." But he went on so say the exemption for troops sponsored by religious organizations "undermines and diminishes the historic nature of today's decision. Discrimination should have no place in the Boy Scouts, period."
Jacob Lynn, the pastor of preaching and missions at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock agreed, saying he was excited about the decision.
"I appreciate any steps that remove discrimination," he said.
Lynn said his church always has been inclusive of all sexual orientations, and the Scout troops affiliated with his church will continue to reflect that.
Lynn, 35, has been involved with Boy Scouts for 22 years -- as a Boy Scout, an Eagle Scout, an executive for Boy Scouts of America for five years and now as the father and den leader of a 7-year-old Cub Scout.
As for his son's Scouting experience, Lynn said allowing gay youths and gay adults to participate doesn't affect it.
"The only thing that may change is the conversation between he and I. He might come to me asking me, 'Why does Tommy have two dads?', and I'll explain it to him. But there'd be no reason for the function and quality of Scouts to change," he said.
Deborah Beuerman, a receptionist at Family Council, a conservative education and research organization based in Little Rock, said the vote reflects a deviation from what Boy Scouts stands for.
She's has two grown sons who were both Eagle Scouts more than a decade ago, and her husband was a Scout leader. She said if this decision had come down when they were Scouts, she would have pulled them out of the program.
Beuerman's sons were involved in a troop sponsored by Covenant Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America. Although the troop was "Christ-centered," and she supports church-sponsored Scouting units deciding not to allow gay leaders, she said giving churches the authority to choose leadership isn't enough to protect Scouts.
"There is no way one troop can be isolated," she said. "This is a national organization with national jamborees, and there would be no way to keep children from the gay leaders that want to push their agenda."
Beuerman said lifting the ban goes against the Scout's oath to stay "morally straight."
"It doesn't matter if they talk about it, if [a Scout leader] is gay, he's teaching young boys that it is a normal lifestyle," she said. "That's not appropriate."
Metro on 07/29/2015