Disney to Halt Funding Boy Scouts Over Its Ban on Gay Adult Leaders

Story by the Associated Press; curated by Dave Urbanski

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Walt Disney Company will cut funding to the Boy Scouts of America beginning in 2015 because of a policy that bans gay adult leaders in the organization.

The Boy Scouts lifted a ban on gay youth last year.

Disney World (Image source: Wikimedia)

Disney does not provide direct funding to the Boy Scouts, but it donates money to some troops in exchange for volunteer hours completed by Disney employees, said Deron Smith, a Boy Scouts spokesman, on Sunday.

"We believe every child deserves the opportunity to be a part of the Scouting experience and we are disappointed in this decision because it will impact our ability to serve kids," Smith added in a statement.

David Jefferson, chief spokesman for The Walt Disney Company, did not respond to calls or emails.

Disney's decision came to light after the president of a local Boy Scout council based in Orlando, Fla., where Disney World is based, sent a memo alerting local troops to the decision.

The memo was posted on the website of Scouts for Equality, an organization critical of the Boy Scouts' policy to ban adult gay troop leaders.