DALLAS — A day after the Boy Scouts of America reaffirmed its policy excluding gay scouts and leaders, Jennifer Tyrrell traveled to the Boy Scouts’ national headquarters in Dallas to deliver a petition asking the organization to reconsider.
Jennifer Tyrrell once served as her seven-year-old son’s den leader, but says she was ousted from the Boy Scouts because she’s gay. According to ontopmag.com, Tyrrell said the Boy Scouts’ ban is discriminatory.
“This movement doesn’t stop because 11 anonymous men behind closed doors made a decision to keep discrimination in place,” she is quoted as saying on ontopmag.com. “This petition may have started out for me and my son, but it’s grown into something much bigger.”
Related: Missouri Teen Kicked Out of Boy Scouts for Being Gay
Tyrrell launched her petition on Change.org in April and has received more than 300,000 signatures.
Also calling for a policy change are two of the Boy Scouts national board members, Ernst & Young CEO James Turley and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, who’ve reportedly stated they will try to work from within to change the Boy Scouts’ policy.
According to Huffington Post, Stephenson could likely become president of the Scouts’ national board in 2014. But for now, the Boy Scouts of America stand united, reaffirming their policy on homosexual membership and leaders on Tuesday. According to Huffington Post, the Boy Scouts “cited support from parents as a key reason for keeping the policy.”
