US Boy Scouts approve plan to accept openly gay boys

The Boy Scouts of America is throwing open its ranks to gay Scouts, but not gay adult Scout leaders, a fiercely contested compromise that some warn could fracture the organization and lead to mass defections.

But the bitter debate is not over. Liberal Scout leaders have made clear they want the ban on gay adults lifted too. Thursday's National Council vote result was welcomed by gay rights groups, but many religious institutions – which charter about 70 percent of the country's more than 100,000 Scouting units – were upset and threatened defection were the ban lifted. (AP)