Scouts Lose Support From Lockheed Over Gay Ban

The Boy Scouts of America's ban on gay leaders has cost the organization financial support from Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin, reports the Baltimore Sun.

The aerospace and defense contractor said it will no longer provide philanthropic support to the Boy Scouts because of the nonprofit organization's "policies that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and religious affiliation," the newspaper said.

Gay youths will be allowed in the Boy Scouts for the first time starting next month, the Sun said, after the organization's national council voted to lift its longstanding ban on gay scouts in May.

Lockheed Martin spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the company was pleased to see the Boy Scouts revise its membership policy but opposes the continued ban on gay leadership, reports theDallas Morning News.

"We believe engaging with and funding an organization that openly discriminates is in conflict with our policies," Johndroe said in the Dallas Morning News story. "While we applaud the mission of the Boy Scouts and the good things they do in our communities, their policies that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation and religious affiliation conflict with Lockheed Martin policies."