Caterpillar Inc. has announced that it will suspend any donations to the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) because of the organization's discriminating policy against gay adults. The heavy equipment manufacturer says the move wasn't a direct result of the recent vote by the organization to allow gay youth but continue their ban on gay leaders, rather it was a result of discussions within the company following a donation request by the BSA for $25,00 in funds.
The Southern Baptist Church has approved a resolution of their "continued opposition to and disappointment" in the Scouts' decision this past May to open membership policies for openly gay youth.
The ELCA elected their first openly gay, Native-American bishop, and a gay Catholic priest opens up about his hidden life in the Catholic church. A Mormon basketball player becomes the first out college player at his small Catholic college, anti-LGBT tensions rise in Nigeria, and the UK sees its first Muslim lesbian partnership. Click through to read these stories and more in the religion news summary for June 5th, 2013.
A priest in Bremerton, Washington, has discontinued his parish's sponsorship of a Boy Scout troop in the wake of a vote to drop the ban on gay Scouts, while keeping the ban on gay Scout leaders. In a letter to parishioners, Fr. Derek Lappe demonstrates his animus toward LGBT people as a rationale for disassociating Our Lady Star of the Sea from the Boy Scouts.
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Positive reactions from faith organizations continue to surface in response to the vote dropping the ban on gay scouts. The Religious Institute, The Association of Welcoming & Affirming Baptists, and the Jewish community all speak in favor of the Boy Scouts of America's new change.
Today, the Boy Scouts of America's Greater New York Councils and US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan released statements supporting the move to allow gay youth to participate in the Boy Scouts and continue onward for full inclusion of gay parents and leaders.
After Thursday's historic vote, GLAAD would like to thank these incredible and tireless advocates for their working in helping to the BSA's anti-gay policies
Immediately after the Boy Scouts of America made the decision to no longer ban or banish young boys who happen to be gay, Erick Erickson of the web site RedState.com, took to his Twitter account to go after the Boy Scouts in a really ugly way.
More than 1,500 New Yorkers gathered today in Manhattan to mourn the death of a 32 year-old gay man, who was shot down on Friday just blocks away from the historic Stonewall Inn in an apparent act of anti-gay bias.
