Eagle Scouts Return Badges in Protest of Gay Ban

When the Boy Scouts of America reaffirmed its policy of excluding openly gay members last week, it couldnt have known that the decision would spark its highest-ranking members to defect. Yet a growing number of adult Eagle Scouts have been returning their hard-earned badges to the organization, along with heartfelt letters of protest.

In June, the Boy Scouts said it was reconsidering its anti-gay membership policy after one Scout presented officials with a Change.org petition bearing more than 300,000 signatures in favor of changing the policy. Though the organization said it would review the policy as a formality with no plans to actually change it the recent decision to uphold the standard was nevertheless a blow to many.

Since then, grown Eagle Scouts the highest rank attainable in the Scouts have renounced their Scout awards, which are badges earned at age 17 after many years of dedication and community service.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/07/25/eagle-scouts-return-badges-in-protest-of-gay-ban/#ixzz21nA98coQ