Legalization of same sex marriage only a matter of time
This morning in Tupelo a same-sex couple applied for a marriage license at the Lee County Courthouse as part of a campaign for marriage equality that is currently being staged in several southern states.
Southern Baptists officially oppose gay Scouts
The Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution Wednesday expressing its opposition to the Boy Scouts of America’s new policy allowing gay Scouts, though it doesn’t explicitly call for churches to drop all ties with the organization.
Churches split on Scouts’ welcoming of gay youth
In suburban Atlanta, northern Idaho and a number of other places, churches have moved swiftly to sever ties with the Boy Scouts of America in protest over the vote last month to let openly gay boys participate in Scouting.
Leonard Pitts: Scouts, be prepared for a celebration in the future
Hold your applause. As milestones go, this one is disappointing.
It is, at best, half a milestone. Or a down payment on a milestone. If you are of a more cynical bent, you might even call it an effort to forestall a milestone.
Voice of the people: Cameron Triplett
Gays and Scouting Everybody is in an uproar over the Boy Scouts changing their policy prohibiting gays from being Scouts. Ever since its inception the
Our view: Removal of ban on gay Scouts signals broad shift in public opinion
Some day, when the perspective of time permits a dispassionate view of what is now called the Gay Rights Movement, May 23, 2013, will stand as one of its milestone moments.
Gay rights advocates applaud Boy Scouts decision
Last week the Boy Scouts of America reached a landmark decision when it changed its policies to allow openly gay boys into the organization. The new policy, which goes into effect in January, has been met with both applause and controversy.
Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys
GRAPEVINE, Texas — After lengthy and wrenching debate, local leaders of the Boy Scouts of America have voted to open their ranks to openly gay
Vote on gay Scouts comes at emotional time
GRAPEVINE, Texas — The Boy Scouts of America’s national leadership will vote today whether to allow openly gay Scouts in its ranks, a critical and
Will Boy Scouts accept gay youth? Vote is imminent
With its ranks deeply divided, the Boy Scouts of America is asking its local leaders from across the country to decide whether its contentious membership policy should be overhauled so that openly gay boys can participate in Scout units.
Boy Scouts propose to lift gay ban for youth
Searching for compromise on a divisive issue, the Boy Scouts of America is proposing to partially lift its long-standing exclusion of gays — allowing them as youth members but continuing to bar them as adult leaders.
Ads out of closet, into mainstream with gay themes
A new TV commercial features a good-looking young woman on a beach vacation lounging next to a good-looking young man. He bemoans the glare on his iPad and she fills him in on the Kindle Paperwhite’s sun-friendly screen.
Plans for prom barring gays rocks Ind. community
A small Indiana community best known for its parks and corn festival has become the center of a national discussion about intolerance over a group’s plans to host a “traditional” prom that bans gay students.
Boy Scouts delay decision on policy excluding gays
Caught in an ideological crossfire, the Boy Scouts of America is putting off until May a decision on whether to ease its policy of excluding gays. Whatever the organization eventually does, it’s likely to anger major constituencies and worsen schisms within Scouting.
Obama says Boy Scouts should allow gays
President Barack Obama said Sunday that gays should be allowed in the Boy Scouts and women should be allowed in military combat roles, weighing in on two storied American institutions facing proposals to end long-held exclusions.
Evangelical churches refine message on gay issues
The Rev. Robert Jeffress has changed the way he talks about homosexuality from the pulpit.
The pastor of the 11,000-member First Baptist Dallas hasn’t stopped preaching that homosexual sex is sinful, but he no longer singles it out for special condemnation. Now, Jeffress says he usually talks about homosexuality within “a bigger context of God’s plan for sex between one man and one woman in a lifetime relationship called marriage.”
Under pressure, Boy Scouts may end no-gays policy
Facing diverse and ceaseless protests, the Boy Scouts of America is signaling its readiness to end the nationwide exclusion of gays as scouts or leaders and give the sponsors of local troops the freedom to decide the matter for themselves.
Columbus native turns in Eagle Scout medal in protest over policy on gays
Columbus native Austin Smith received his Eagle Scout medal in 1973 at the age of 16. The award capped off a longtime commitment to the Boy Scouts and fulfilled a dream of his family.