The Boy Scouts of America long-standing ban on openly gay boy members has been lifted after local leaders voted on the policy change, ABC News reports.
The organization still has not lifted its ban on openly gay adults, and many gay rights activist groups and liberal Scout leaders plan on continuing to press the Boy Scouts on the issue, though the "BSA's top officials aren't ready for that," CBS reported.
Many conservative members of the Scouts are "distraught" at the outcome of the vote, which was determined after a secret ballot that took place Thursday night during the National Council's annual meeting close to the BSA's headquarters in Dallas.
Sixty-one percent of the 1,400 members supported the proposal drafted by the governing Executive Committee to change the policy, which takes effect on January 1 of next year.
"We are deeply saddened," said Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's executive committee, according to CBS. "Homosexual behavior is incompatible with the principles enshrined in the Scout oath and Scout law."
BSA chief executive Wayne Brock had a different view after the vote.
"This has been a challenging chapter in our history," Brock told CBS. "While people have differing opinions on this policy, kids are better off when they're in Scouting."
Texas Governor Rick Perry expressed his dismay at the policy change.
"While I will always cherish my time as a Scout and the life lessons I learned, I am greatly disappointed with this decision," he said.
In contrast, White House spokesman Shin Inouye said that President Barack Barack Obama welcomed the Scouts' decision to accept gay youth, and "continues to believe that leadership positions in the Scouts should be open to all, regardless of sexual orientation."
"I'm so proud of how far we've come, but until there's a place for everyone in Scouting, my work will continue," said Jennifer Tyrrell, who was banned from being a Cub Scout den leader in Ohio because she is lesbian, which launched a national protest movement.
Tyrell told ABC News about her experience of having to tell her son why was forced out of her den mother position.
"He doesn't deserve to be told that we're not good enough," she said. "We're not going to stop until this is over."
Others had mixed emotions after the vote, such as Pascal Tessier, an openly gay 16-year-old Boy Scout from Maryland. "I was thinking that today could be my last day as a Boy Scout," he said. "Obviously, for gay Scouts like me, this vote is life-changing."
Tessier, who is on track to receive his Eagle Scout award, said that he is troubled "that on his 18th birthday he could transform from someone holding Scouting's highest rank to someone unfit to be a part of the organization," as the Scouts do not accept openly gay adults.
"That one couple hours (between 17 and 18) will make me not a good person," he said.
James Dale, the first person to challenge the Boy Scouts' ban on openly gay members in court, said that the decision is "a bit of a step backward" for gay youth. "I wish I could say it's a step forward, but unfortunately, I think it actually makes things worse," he said to New Jersey's The Star-Ledger. "I think it's a bit of a step backward."
"It sends a very convoluted, mixed message to gay kids. It says that being gay is a youthful indiscretion, and that there's no future for you," Dale said.
"The Boy Scouts of America will not sacrifice its mission, or the youth served by the movement, by allowing the organization to be consumed by a single, divisive and unresolved societal issue," the BSA said in a statement, according to CBS News. Of more than 100,000 Scouting units in the U.S., 70 percent are supported and chartered by religious organizations, including liberal churches opposed to any ban on gay members, as well as conservative churches and groups that have supported the ban.
"This is a win for youth and a win for the community," said John Gailey, spokesman for the Utah National Parks Council. "It gives all youth the opportunity to take advantage of the values instilled by Scouting."
