NEW YORK, NY — On Monday, January 28, the Boys Scouts of America (BSA) announced that it is considering a dramatic reversal of its controversial policy that excludes gays from membership in the organization, as from serving as scout leaders.

The policy change, if enacted, would permit local Scout units—and the civic and religious groups that sponsor them—to decide for themselves whether to maintain an exclusion of gays or open their up to gay candidates.

Scouting spokesman Deron Smith insisted that, “the Boy Scouts would not, under any circumstances, dictate a position to units, members, or parents.”

The Boys Scouts, which turned 100 in 2010, has a long history of excluding gays. Protests over the no-gays policy increased after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2000 that upheld Scouting’s right to exclude gays. In the backlash, Scout units lost sponsorships from public schools and other entities that mandate nondiscrimination policies. A number of local Scout councils also voiced opposition to the national policy.

Major corporate donors have likewise expressed their displeasure, including worldwide shipping company UPS and pharmaceutical giant Merck, who ceased donations to the Boy Scouts from their charitable foundations.

The decision by BSA to oust scout leader Jennifer Tyrrell, a lesbian mother who served as den mother of her son’s Ohio Cub Scout pack, as well as refusing the Eagle Scout application of a gay California teen, Ryan Andresen, have also generated considerable negative fallout for Scouting.