The Boy Scouts of America has voted to welcome openly gay scouts from January 1.
Of the roughly 1,400 voting members of the BSA's National Council who voted, 61 percent supported the proposal drafted by the governing Executive Committee.
According to Fox News, the result was welcomed by many liberal members of the Scouting community and by gay-rights activists.
The vote followed what the BSA described as the most comprehensive listening exercise in Scouting's history to gauge opinions.
The proposal approved Thursday was seen as a compromise, and the Scouts stressed that they would not condone sexual conduct by any Scout, gay or straight, the report added.
