Pascal Tessier, Gay Maryland Teen, Becomes Eagle Scout On Jan. 1

Gay Eagle Scout: 'I'm Not Stopping' My Fight For Scout Equality
Boy Scout Pascal Tessier, 16, of Kensington, Md., who is openly gay, responds to a reporters question Thursday, May 23, 2013, in Grapevine, Texas. Local leaders of the Boy Scouts of America voted Thursday to ease a divisive ban and allow openly gay boys to be accepted into the nation's leading youth organization ? one of the most dramatic moves the organization has made in a century. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Boy Scout Pascal Tessier, 16, of Kensington, Md., who is openly gay, responds to a reporters question Thursday, May 23, 2013, in Grapevine, Texas. Local leaders of the Boy Scouts of America voted Thursday to ease a divisive ban and allow openly gay boys to be accepted into the nation's leading youth organization ? one of the most dramatic moves the organization has made in a century. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Gay youths will be allowed in the Boy Scouts of America for the first time starting Jan. 1, after the organization's national council voted in May to lift its longstanding ban on gay scouts.

The action clears the way for Pascal Tessier of Kensington, MD, to become one of the organization's first openly gay Eagle Scouts. Tessier and his Bethesda-Chevy Chase Boy Scout Troop held a demonstration earlier this year at the National Capital Area Council of Boy Scouts, demanding that openly gay youth be admitted to the BSA, reports NBC Washington.

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