One month after the founding of SFE, the BSA publicly reaffirmed their ban on gay members and leaders. Wahls and Jonathan Hillis-a former BSA Executive Board youth member and a fellow straight Eagle Scout-founded Scouts for Equality (SFE), an organization of Scouts opposed to the BSA's ban on gay Scouts and Scouters. Īs a continuation of their work in delivering this petition to the BSA, Mr. Tyrrell's petition to senior BSA leadership at their annual national meeting in late May 2012. Zach Wahls-a straight Eagle Scout who rose to national prominence after a video of his testimony before the Iowa legislature about his lesbian parents became YouTube's top political video in 2011-delivered Ms. Tyrrell's petition asking for reinstatement gathered 275,000 signatures in a matter of days. A friend sent her story to GLAAD (formerly the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), which introduced her to, an online petition platform. In April 2012, Jennifer Tyrrell, a lesbian Den Mother from Ohio, was ousted from her son's Cub Scout Pack.
