BOY SCOUTS RENEW CHARTER OF GAY-ACCEPTING TROOP

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 23, 1992                   TAG: 9202230055
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SAN JOSE, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Short
BOY SCOUTS RENEW CHARTER OF GAY-ACCEPTING TROOP
The Boy Scouts of America renewed the charter of a troop that defied a national policy excluding homosexuals by announcing it would accept gay people as scouts and leaders.
The national organization says its action doesn't indicate a retreat on Boy Scout policy. Scouting officials said Friday that if San Jose Troop 260 - or any other troop - admits homosexuals, its charter will be revoked.
"They do not have any gays and have agreed not to seek any gays," said Buford Hill, western regional director of the Boy Scouts of America. "If they have gays, they cannot be members of the Boy Scouts of America. Those are not negotiable standards."
Gay advocates took the news as a victory, however.
The San Jose troop leaders in December adopted a resolution stating it would not reject any members based on sexual preference. No current member is openly homosexual.
Last month, the troop was threatened with loss of its charter unless it complied with the national policy that bars homosexuals.
But Grant Robinson, the Boy Scouts' Northern California director, wrote to the pastor whose church sponsors the 26-member troop saying the troop could remain affiliated if it agreed not to "actively seek to register known or avowed homosexuals."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB