Boy Scouts of America Dismisses Openly Gay Leader for Failure to 'Comply with Policies'

An openly gay scout leader was removed from his post as assistant Scoutmaster by the Boy Scouts of America on the ground that he did not comply with policies of the organization.

Brian Peffly, 35, an intensive unit care nurse, served under Troop 192 of the Scouts' Simon Kenton Council in Columbus, Ohio, until he was dismissed last March 13.

"As indicated in my phone message, when someone states they do not comply with policies of the Boy Scouts of America, regardless of the topic, they may no longer be considered for a volunteer adult leadership position in the organization," the dismissal letter stated, signed by Steve McGowan, general counsel of the Scouts' National Council.

"While it is never our desire to remove anyone from scouting, based on your recent statements we must take that action at this time," the letter said, without stating the specific reason why Peffly was dismissed.

The action was taken even though the Simon Kenton Council adopted a non-discrimination policy last September, saying it does not believe in denying membership to youth or adult leaders based on sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, disability or economic status.

The Boy Scouts of America still has a ban on gay adult leaders and volunteers.

"He wanted to continue giving back to scouting, and the New York Councils embraced him," said Zach Wahls, executive director of Scouts for Equality.

In April last year, Peffly announced that he was gay in a WBNS-TV Channel 10 report in reaction to the removal of a gay Scouts leader in Seattle.

"I had the option to lie about it," said Peffly then. "The first part of Scout law is that a Scout is trustworthy. I went with Scout law."

Nothing happened after the interview and his Scouts membership card arrived in the mail in June last year.

"I knew that I was accepted; they didn't care about my orientation. Why does that need to come up if you're teaching fire-building or first aid or whatever?" said Peffly.

The Simon Kenton Council refused to discuss Peffly's dismissal, but a statement from CEO Jeff Moe said, "We recognize that the actions of the national council do not reflect our recently adopted statement of diversity, but as members of our national organization, we are bound by its policies."

A petition was launched on Change.org to reinstate Peffly.