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No vote from Boy Scouts to end ban on gay members

The Boy Scouts of America announced Wednesday it would not make a decision this week about ending its national ban on gay Scouts and leaders.

The Boy Scouts of America announced Wednesday it would not make a decision this week about ending its national ban on gay Scouts and leaders.

In a statement released by the organization, the BSA said it needed more time to review its policy before deciding to maintain or reverse the ban:

For 103 years, the Boy Scouts of America has been a part of the fabric of this nation, providing it's youth program of character development and values-based leadership training. In the past two weeks, Scouting has received an outpouring of feedback from the American public. It reinforces how deeply people care about Scouting and how passionate they are about the organization.After careful consideration and extensive dialogue within the Scouting family, along with comments from those outside the organization, the volunteer officers of the Boy Scouts of America's National Executive Board concluded that due to the complexity of this issue, the organization needs time for a more deliberate review of its membership policy.To that end, the executive board directed its committees to further engage representatives of Scouting's membership and listen to their perspectives and concerns. This will assist the officers' work on a resolution on membership standards. The approximately 1,400 voting members of the national council will take action on the resolution at the national meeting in May 2013.

The BSA announced last week it would consider revising the organization's national ban to allow local organizations to determine their troops' policies for membership. The decision to delay until further review comes as supporters and opponents of the ban continue to voice their opinions on the matter.

Last July, the BSA ended a two-year review of the same policy, concluding it would not end the ban.