The resolution passed by the committee does not require councils or troops to allow out gay leaders, but lifts the prior ban on such leaders. Specifically, the resolution “affirms the right of each chartering organization to reach its own religious and moral conclusions about the specific meaning and application of” the organization’s values.

In a statement, Zach Wahls, the executive director of Scouts for Equality, said, “Today’s announcement hopefully marks the beginning of the end of the Boy Scouts of America’s decades-old ban on gay leaders and parents like my two moms.”

He continued: “For decades, the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on gay adults has stood as a towering example of explicit, institutional homophobia in one of America’s most important and recognizable civic organizations. While this policy change is not perfect—BSA’s religious chartering partners will be allowed to continue to discriminate against gay adults—it is difficult to overstate the importance of today’s announcement.”