PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AP) -- The nation's third largest Boy Scout council expanded its nondiscrimination policy to include sexual orientation, defying the national group's anti-gay stance.
The board of the Cradle of Liberty Council, which has 87,000 members in Philadelphia and two neighboring counties, voted unanimously this month to make the change after discussions with gay activists and other community leaders that began two years ago.
"We disagree with the national stance, and we're not comfortable with the stated national policy," council Chairman David H. Lipson Jr. said.
The code of the national Boy Scouts of America organization requires members to be "morally straight," though no written rule specifically addresses homosexuality.
