Last month the Boy Scouts of America proposed to end its ancient ban on openly gay scouts but to continue enforcing its ban on gay adults serving as leaders.

The proposed policy states that “no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone,” but the organization “will maintain the current membership policy for all adult leaders.”

Former assistant scout leader Greg Bourke from Kentucky is now fighting for change after being forced out last year because he is openly gay.

He has urged major sponsors of the organization to withdraw their contributions if discriminatory policies continue.

Last month, Bourke hand-delivered 64,000 signatures at the United Way’s annual conference for those demanding full equality, which galvanized gay rights groups that immediately took action and began to campaign for change.

If the proposed policy is passed, openly gay children who later want to become leaders, but can’t because of their sexuality, would now have the full opportunity to realize their potential.

Although the scouts are serious when it comes to religion and traditional values, what all religions come down to is equality.

Other conservative  religious groups want the scouts to carry on with the same policy of ejecting boys and dismissing leaders who are openly gay.

But leadership is approaching the issue with caution since most of its local troops are sponsored by churches, which refuse to acknowledge the change in public opinion.

Not surprisingly churches have threatened to  abandon their funding for the Boy Scouts if it changes its policy on gay members and leaders.

While several corporations, including UPS, Merck and Intel, recently dropped funding for the organization because of the ban.

Since opposing and supporting sides of repealing the ban will yield financial losses, leadership should either commit to an absolute ban or if they wish to be on the right side of history, accept both gay youth and adult leaders into the organization.