The Boy Scouts of America's proposed shift in its longstanding ban on openly gay members and leaders would put decisions about inclusion in its local troops' hands.
That step irked a regional gay community group, which said Tuesday that the policy change would only make the Scouts "one of the top discriminatory groups" rather than "the top discriminatory organization," while regional Scout leaders and sponsoring organizations said it is too early to predict any changes to come.
The proposal is slated for discussion by the Scouts' national board next week.
A national spokesman said Monday that the proposed policy change would allow the churches, civic clubs and educational organizations that charter local packs, troops and crews to "determine how to address this issue" in a way that is "consistent with each organization's mission, principles or religious beliefs."
Marcel Cinquina, Scout executive of the Boy Scouts of America's Northeastern Pennsylvania Council, said the regional council's role is simply to adhere to whatever the national organization decides and, if the proposal is adopted, deal with local units' individual choices.
"You are going to get some very conservative religious organizations that are going to say no and you are going to get other organizations that are more open to it," he said. Either way, the Scouts' leadership standards "would be the same for any leader, no matter what their sexual orientation is," he said.
The council serves about 4,100 kids in nearly 160 units across all or part of Luzerne, Wyoming, Susquehanna, Lackawanna, Pike and Wayne counties.
Nationally, nearly 70 percent of the Scouts' chartered units are operated by faith-based organizations, with the largest number of members sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the United Methodist Church and the Catholic Church. In Northeast Pennsylvania, dozens of troops, packs and crews are sponsored by Roman Catholic and Methodist parishes.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton said in a statement that it hopes the Boy Scouts "will continue to abide by the Christian principles under which they were founded" and that any organizations affiliated with the diocese and its parishes are "expected to function in harmony with the teachings of the Catholic Church."
"The Church teaches that all people, including those of various sexual orientations, must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity," it said. "Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided."
Jerry Wolgemuth, spokesman for the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church, said neither the denomination nor the local conference has taken a position on the issue.
"Our churches would be free to make their own decisions at this point," he said, "because no legislation has ever been introduced one way or the other."
The NEPA Rainbow Alliance expressed hope that local units will elect to welcome gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth and leaders if the policy is adopted, and it offered to help parents identify LGBT-friendly units. But executive director John Dawe said the Scouts' proposal merely shifts responsibility from the national organization while leaving it "up to local sponsors to be the 'bad guy' when it comes to discrimination."
Others hoped the proposal is a signal that the organization might begin to recognize all families.
Pam Hemann, a lesbian and the leader of her sons' Cub Scout pack in Meshoppen years ago, said the Boy Scouts is a positive organization and scouting teaches kids "so many" valuable lessons.
When she was the pack leader and heard whispers that the organization might try to remove her, she asked the parents of the more than a dozen boys in the group if they thought she should go.
"It was overwhelming that they wanted me to stay," she said, and she remained the leader for about four years until her sons moved on to other activities.
She said she has been heartened to hear people express support for inclusion and equality.
"I welcome scouting coming into the 21st century," she said.
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com