Scouts Canada, for instance, is particularly humane, not only rejecting sexual orientation as a criterion for membership but also authorizing specialized troops, including ones for Mormons, Cantonese-speakers and gay Scouts.

Minutes later, Justice Gary S. Stein, asked whether the organization would remove gay Scouts who do not publicly reveal or discuss their sexual orientation.

In their dissenting opinion, the minority held that the ban on gay Scouts did not follow from its founding principles, and Scout Law says nothing on matters of sexuality.

In 2012, both President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney stated that they opposed the ban on gay Scouts.

In its letter, the Boy Scouts committee called the manual's passages inappropriate and said it viewed "with considerable dismay" the criticism of the policy against gay Scouts.

Both attitudes foster the hatred of homosexuals, and a "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which failed in the military, would be psychologically damaging for young gay Scouts.

The Supreme Court will decide whether the Boy Scouts have a right to exclude gay Scouts from positions of leadership.