LDS church to review new Boy Scouts proposal

Mormon church leaders say they will carefully review the Boy Scouts of America’s new proposal on the organization’s long-standing ban on gays before it takes a position.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spokesman Michael Purdy said Friday they are looking closely at the language in the proposal and studying the implications.

The Scouts announced Friday that the proposal would be submitted at its national meeting in Texas the week of May 20.

CNN said the BSA would no longer deny membership to youth on the basis of sexual orientation, but would maintain its ban on openly gay adult leaders under a proposal it is considering.

Figures from the Boy Scouts of America show there are more Mormon Boy Scouts nationally than any other religious denomination. In the Boy Scouts’ Great Salt Lake Council, 99 percent of the troops are sponsored by the Mormon church.

The LDS church teaches its members that marriage is only between a man and a woman and that same-sex relationships are sinful.