Scouting's Move Toward Equality - NYTimes.com The Boy Scouts of America voted on Thursday to discard part of its discriminatory policies about gay Americans and to allow openly gay boys to participate in its activities. The decision was made by about 1,400 delegates attending a national convention in Grapevine, Tex. It was a major step for one of the country's oldest and most influential youth organizations that as recently as a year ago rejected any change in its membership policies. But, at the same time, the Boy Scouts did not take the next and necessary step to end the exclusion of openly gay and lesbian adults as troop leaders. There is reason to celebrate the first turn toward inclusion, but the message to young people will still be: if you're gay, keep quiet because there is something wrong with you. And gay boys and teenagers who love scouting and are courageous enough to be open about their sexual identity know that when they turn 18 and want to serve as a pack or troop leader, they will be forced out of the organization. The quandary for parents who want their sons to be part of a beloved American tradition, but don't want to support discrimination, has not been resolved. The right move would have been for the Scouts to reject discrimination based on sexual orientation - the direction that most Americans are moving. The Girl Scouts don't have this problem, having long accepted inclusion and nondiscrimination as core principles. The Boy Scouts organization - by tolerating a loathsome belief, pressed by religious activists, that equates homosexuality with deviance - has committed itself to rejecting good, dedicated leaders. It should understand that scouting's mission does not have to dovetail with right-wing agendas and bigotry. The scout movement was built a century ago simply upon interests "universal among boys" - outdoor skills and adventure - and on values of citizenship and decency. It's a shame the Boy Scouts have allowed bigotry to tarnish this tradition.