In an unprecedented move, the Boy Scouts of America have hired Pascal Tessier, 18, to be a summer camp leader. Tessier is an openly gay scout and is the first to be hired by the organization.
The organization had made itself widely known as anti-gay in a series of lawsuits which affirmed the private entity did have the right to set its own membership standards, including its failure to include LGBT individuals, a practice that lasted until 2014. Amid staunch public criticism the Boy Scouts submitted in 2014 and began allowing gay individuals to become scouts, but had not hired a gay person before Tessier.
Prepared to face opposition, Tessier is represented by a lawyer and will fight to maintain his place among the Scouts.
In an interview with Buzzfeed, Greater New York Councils spokesperson Richard Manson said, “We’ve accepted him, he was put through the normal process. They have not, to my knowledge, rejected him, so as far as we are concerned, this young man is coming to work, and is ready to do so this summer.”
